N. Korea proposes talks on economic cooperation with S. Korea

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday formally proposed holding
talks with South Korea next month on ways to promote economic cooperation between
the countries, the government here said.
In a pair of messages, the North proposed the sides meet on Feb. 11 to discuss
the resumption of cross-border tours and on Feb. 9 to facilitate their
cooperation involving a joint factory complex in the communist country, the
Unification Ministry said in a release.
In a separate message, the North also expressed regret over the South's decision
not to send officials back to an inter-Korean office that Pyongyang had earlier
promised to reopen in an apparent gesture aimed at reviving cross-border
dialogue, the ministry said.
The moves coincided with the restoration of a Red Cross hotline at the border
truce village of Panmunjom that straddles the Koreas. North Korea had shut down
the line in May of last year after South Korea condemned the country for the
deadly sinking of its warship.
Despite tensions that soared after the North shelled a South Korean border island
on Nov. 23, Pyongyang is stepping up its charm offensive toward South Korea, a
move that officials here have discounted as an attempt to extract badly-needed
aid from Seoul.
South Korea says it will not consider the North's peace offensive as genuine
until Pyongyang agrees to assure Seoul of its commitment to denuclearization and
take steps to account for its provocations.
"The proposals the North made today appear to be lacking sincerity as they fail
to show its intention to discuss issues that we consider essential," a ministry
official said, asking not to be named as the response has yet to be formally
announced.
North Korea generally shuns discussions on its nuclear arms development in
dialogue with South Korea, saying the activity is aimed at deterring a U.S.
invasion.
In the messages to the South on Wednesday, the North also refrained from
mentioning the series of deadly incidents that took place last year between the
two countries, Unification Ministry officials said.
"The government once again stresses that it has proposed inter-Korean talks that
can lead to a clear promise to prevent further provocation and take responsible
measures over the sinking and the shelling," the ministry said, adding that the
North must affirm its denuclearization commitment as well in talks with the
South.
The two Koreas remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a
truce rather than a peace treaty.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)

Delete & Prev | Delete & Next