ID :
188904
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 05:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/188904
The shortlink copeid
N.K. Threatens to Disclose Voice Recordings of Secret Meeting with S. Korea
North Korea threatened on June 9 to disclose voice recordings of a secret meeting it had with South Korea in May, during which Seoul allegedly proposed holding a series of inter-Korean summits.
An official from the North's powerful National Defense Commission, who was involved in the secret meeting, dismissed Seoul's account of the negotiations as a "sheer lie," according to the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Quoting the North Korean official, the KCNA reported that South Korean negotiators told their North Korean counterparts that the secret meeting was arranged to try to set up inter-Korean summit talks under the direct instruction of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
The North Korean official also told the KCNA that Southern officials said the summit must be held and proposed that the two sides hold another secret meeting in Malaysia and Cabinet-level talks to lay the groundwork for the summits -- the first at the border village of Panmunjom in June, second in Pyongyang in August and third in Seoul in March next year on the sidelines of an international security summit.
"Should they continue to decline to reveal the truth and deceive their fellow countrymen and hatch plots, the (North) will have no other choice but to make public the tape recording, the whole course of the contact before the world," the North Korean official said, according to the KCNA.
In a surprise move earlier in June, North Korea reported that the two Koreas held a secret meeting in Beijing where Seoul negotiators had "begged" for three inter-Korean summits and offered an envelope of cash as an inducement.
The two Koreas acknowledged that they had held the secret talks but gave different accounts of what happened, prompting one side to accuse the other of distorting facts.
South Korea had denied that the purpose of the secret contact was to set up summit meetings, rebuffing Pyongyang's claims that it had begged for them and offered an unspecified amount of cash.
"An envelope of cash did not exist," a South Korean official said on June 9, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He challenged North Korea to make public voice recordings if it has.
The official renewed Seoul's stance that the secret meeting was to win North Korea's apology for its two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed a total of 50 people, most of them soldiers.
The North's threat appears to have been driven by its "internal problems," the South Korean official told reporters, adding it also could be aimed at fomenting friction in South Korea. He did not elaborate.
An official from the North's powerful National Defense Commission, who was involved in the secret meeting, dismissed Seoul's account of the negotiations as a "sheer lie," according to the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Quoting the North Korean official, the KCNA reported that South Korean negotiators told their North Korean counterparts that the secret meeting was arranged to try to set up inter-Korean summit talks under the direct instruction of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
The North Korean official also told the KCNA that Southern officials said the summit must be held and proposed that the two sides hold another secret meeting in Malaysia and Cabinet-level talks to lay the groundwork for the summits -- the first at the border village of Panmunjom in June, second in Pyongyang in August and third in Seoul in March next year on the sidelines of an international security summit.
"Should they continue to decline to reveal the truth and deceive their fellow countrymen and hatch plots, the (North) will have no other choice but to make public the tape recording, the whole course of the contact before the world," the North Korean official said, according to the KCNA.
In a surprise move earlier in June, North Korea reported that the two Koreas held a secret meeting in Beijing where Seoul negotiators had "begged" for three inter-Korean summits and offered an envelope of cash as an inducement.
The two Koreas acknowledged that they had held the secret talks but gave different accounts of what happened, prompting one side to accuse the other of distorting facts.
South Korea had denied that the purpose of the secret contact was to set up summit meetings, rebuffing Pyongyang's claims that it had begged for them and offered an unspecified amount of cash.
"An envelope of cash did not exist," a South Korean official said on June 9, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He challenged North Korea to make public voice recordings if it has.
The official renewed Seoul's stance that the secret meeting was to win North Korea's apology for its two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed a total of 50 people, most of them soldiers.
The North's threat appears to have been driven by its "internal problems," the South Korean official told reporters, adding it also could be aimed at fomenting friction in South Korea. He did not elaborate.
