Sunday International News

South Korea angered by killing of
tourist in North Korea
Agence France-Presse . Seoul
The South Korean media expressed outrage Saturday at the killing of a female South Korean tourist by a soldier in the North, demanding an apology and a thorough investigation into the incident.
The 53-year-old Seoul housewife was taking an early morning stroll at a holiday resort in North Korea on Friday when she apparently strayed into a military zone and was shot dead.
‘A thorough investigation is necessary as firing at an unarmed civilian, even in an off-limits military area, is a disproportionate, excessive reaction,’ the conservative Joongang daily said in an editorial.
Another conservative daily, Chosun, demanded firm government action, saying the North Korean soldier responsible must have known the victim was a tourist.
‘The government must make sure the North apologises, punishes those responsible and pays due compensation to relatives of the victim,’ the paper said.
The Dong-a daily, which generally backs the government, said the ‘barbarous’ killing showed the communist state ‘makes light of human lives.’
The liberal daily Hankyoreh, which said the shooting was ‘an obviously excessive reaction,’ carried the first eyewitness account.
Lee In-Bok, one of five tourists outside watching the sunrise at the time of the incident, said he saw a middle-aged woman dressed in black with a white towel hung over her shoulder strolling along the beach early on Friday.
‘Around 4:50 am, she continued walking northward. After five to 10 minutes, gunshots were heard,’ said the 23-year-old student.
‘I heard a gunshot and about 10 seconds later, another gunshot rang out. Then I heard a scream. We came toward the site and saw one person lying on the ground and three soldiers rushing out of the bush.’


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Cambodian journalist shot dead
Agence France-Presse . Phnom Penh
A Cambodian journalist and his son were shot dead as they left a sports stadium in the capital Phnom Penh, the police said Saturday.
Khim Sambo, 47, died in hospital Friday evening soon after being shot twice in the back by unknown gunmen, Phnom Penh’s police chief Touch Naruth said.
His 22-year-old son Khat Sarin Theada was shot once in the chest and died later, he added.
‘They were shot to death after they finished exercising at the Olympic Stadium,’ Touch Naruth said.
‘Witnesses said it was over some sort of dispute, but we are still looking for the murderers,’ he said.
Khim Sambo had been working for daily Khmer-language Moneakseka Khmer (Khmer Conscience), a newspaper allied to the government’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy, since 1997.
He usually covered social affairs rather than politics, the newspaper’s publisher Dam Sith said.
Dam Sith was recently charged for printing allegations that Cambodia’s foreign minister had ties to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime.
The charge was later dropped.
The deadly attack took place as Cambodia kicked off a month of campaigning for its July 27 general election.


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18 Tamil rebels killed in
Lanka fighting
Agence France-Presse . Colombo
Sri Lanka’s defence ministry said Saturday troops had destroyed Tamil Tiger bunkers and killed 18 rebels in fighting in the north of the island.
The military put its own losses at 20 wounded during Friday’s clashes centered around Mannar, Jaffna, Vavuniya and Weli Oya.
On Friday, the military accused the rebels of shooting at a passenger bus in the southeastern region of Buttala, killing four people and wounding 26.
Fighting is centred around the north, but the rebels routinely carry out attacks against military, economic and civilian targets elsewhere on the island.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam did not comment on the bus attack or the fighting in the north.
The latest figure given by the ministry raises the number of rebels killed by government forces to 4,877 since January, while 435 soldiers have died in the same period.
Casualty figures on both sides cannot be independently verified as the defence ministry bars journalists from travelling to the frontlines.


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