South Korea will impose punitive actions against local civic group members for their unauthorized contact with North Koreans in China last week, Seoul's unification ministry said Sunday.



Without the government's approval, four high-ranking members from the South Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration held a two-day meeting with their North Korean counterparts in Shenyang, China, starting last Thursday.



Seoul's unification ministry earlier rejected the group's request to hold talks with their North Korean counterparts, citing the grave situation following Pyongyang's nuke and missile tests early this year.



The ministry said the civic group members will be punished according to the law, adding that it's not right to have civilian exchanges in tense situations. By law, all South Koreans are required to win Seoul's approval for either meeting with North Koreans in a third country or visiting North Korea. The North's consent is also required for South Koreans to travel to the communist nation.



"It's incorrect to talk about peace and unification while ignoring North Korea's nuclear programs, which is the core problem on the Korean Peninsula," a unification ministry official said. "The North should show its strong commitment to abandoning its nuclear weapons program."



The group was previously fined by the South Korean government in May after they made unauthorized contact with North Koreans also in Shenyang. The government then slapped fines worth less than 2 million won ($1,700) each on the seven members.



In their latest meeting, the group said they discussed the need to have a joint meeting to discuss unification issues, as well as organizing jointly arranged celebrations for the 71st anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule on Aug. 15 and a friendly football tournament between factory workers.



A summit between then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the father of the current leader Kim Jong-un, was held in Pyongyang on June 15, 2000. It produced a landmark joint declaration that outlines inter-Korean reconciliation and economic cooperation. The committee for implementing the agreement was founded in 2005 to carry out the philosophy and handle issues raised in the joint declaration. (Yonhap)



