FORMER NORTH KOREANS FREE PIGEONS NEAR THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE IN PAJU, 2003-01-07 (photo)

Choi Young-ju (L) and Seo Chang-won (front C), who fled from North Korea in 1998, join others who defected from the north over the years as they hold a prayer meeting for the unification of the Korean peninsula and for a peaceful solution to the North Korean nuclear problem at the Tong Il observation platform near the demilitarized zone seperating the two nations in Paju, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Seoul, on January 7, 2003. A South Korean presidential envoy flies to Washington on Tuesday in a fresh bid to defuse North's nuclear crisis after the U.N. nuclear watchdog gave North a reprieve and the United Sates said dialogue was still possible. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won LJW/JD