Seoul will work to improve ties with N. Korea despite threats: minister

By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Seoul's top official on North Korea said Wednesday his
government will continue to engage Pyongyang despite repeated threats by the
communist state.
North Korea threatened to cut civilian ties with South Korea last week if Seoul's
conservative government maintains its hardline policy towards the North.
"We will not directly respond to North Korea's negative actions, but stay calm and
firm while continuing to push for dialogue and cooperation between the two
Koreas," Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong said in a keynote address to a Seoul
forum.
Pyongyang has already stopped official dialogue with Seoul, and evicted all South
Korean government officials from its territory about a month after conservative
President Lee Myung-bak took office in late February.
Lee has vowed to link further inter-Korean cooperation programs, not humanitarian
aid, to North Korea's nuclear disarmament. North Korea did not request an annual
shipment of fertilizer and food aid from the South this year. Seoul has said it
is willing to provide aid if such a request is made.
Kim urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue, reaffirming that Seoul respects the
two inter-Korean summit accords reached under previous administrations to promote
peace and reconciliation, along with all other bilateral agreements.
"The government respects the spirit of inter-Korean agreements aimed at improving
relations," the minister said. "In this context, the government hopes the two
Koreas can find practical ways to implement the June 15 Joint Declaration and the
Oct. 4 Declaration."
"If North Korea believes that implementing the Oct. 4 Declaration is such a
critical issue, it should come forward and engage in dialogue without any
conditions," he said. "We must sit down and have a serious discussion on how to
implement the agreement."