SEOUL – North Korea on Monday officially proposed dialogue with South Korea, less than two months after launching a deadly bombardment of a border island, but a sceptical Seoul quickly rejected the offer.
The South said it was willing to hold government-level talks, but only if the North admits responsibility for a series of provocations and confirms a commitment to scrapping its nuclear programme. The North’s official news agency said three state bodies sent notices to the South’s unification ministry calling for talks and announcing the reopening this Wednesday of a Red Cross border liaison office. They proposed holding a working-level contact in the North’s border city of Kaesong on January 27, and suggested talks between Red Cross organisations from the two sides in the South’s city of Munsan on February 1.
“Our side will not accept the North’s proposals,” said Lee Jong-Joo, spokeswoman for the ministry which handles cross-border contacts. “It’s not time to hold such talks as proposed by North Korea.”
The North on November 23 shelled South Korea’s Yeonpyeong island, killing four people including civilians and raising tensions to their highest level for years. It also heightened security fears in November by disclosing a uranium enrichment plant to visiting US experts.
“First of all, Pyongyang must show sincerity about its nuclear programme and take responsible steps over its provocations,” Lee told AFP. “That’s why our side is proposing government-to-government dialogue to confirm their will.”
The spokeswoman described the North’s proposals as “disguised peace overtures” to try to show the international community that it wants peace. “North Korea is proposing talks unilaterally to receive economic assistance and aid without admitting it is responsible” for a series of provocations, the ministry said in a separate statement.
These include the island attack, the sinking of a South Korean warship last March and the shooting of a South Korean tourist at the Mount Kumgang resort in July 2008, it said.
Such proposals are seen as part of Pyongyang’s “usual strategy” to divide opinion in the South, the ministry said.
It called for goverment-to-government dialogue to determine whether the North is sincere about giving up its nuclear programme, and for a pledge by Pyongyang to take “responsible measures” over the provocations and not repeat them.
The North has previously rejected bilateral talks with the South on its nuclear ambitions, saying its deterrent aims to counter a US threat and talks must involve Washington.
The bombardment was the first shelling attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 war. The South also says the North torpedoed the warship near the disputed border with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it denies.
