South Korea sought to reassure North Korea that it did not want confrontation yesterday after the communist nation threatened to sever all ties, throwing into doubt a joint industrial park and tourism exchanges.
North Korea warned on Thursday that it might cut any remaining relations between the neighbors, accusing the South of seeking a policy of “reckless confrontation.”
The warning was seen as an attempt to pressure Seoul’s new conservative government to change its hardline stance on Pyongyang.
“We don’t in any way want confrontation with North Korea,” said Kim Ho-nyeon, spokesman for Seoul’s Unification Ministry in charge of relations with Pyongyang. “Our position remains unchanged that we want to resolve all problems through dialogue between the South and the North.”
The warning raised concern that the North may ditch two key civilian projects between the sides — a tour program and an industrial park project — which have continued despite a freeze in government-level ties.
North Korea has been unhappy with new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who took office in February with a pledge to get tough on the rival state — a stance that contrasted with his two liberal predecessors who aggressively sought reconciliation by providing massive aid to the impoverished nation.
Pyongyang has suspended all government-level exchanges, though the sides met as part of broader international negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear programs. It has also rejected a food aid proposal and dialogue offers from the South, saying they lacked sincerity.
Ties frayed further after a South Korean woman was shot dead by a North Korean soldier in July during a tour to the North’s Diamond Mountain resort after she entered an adjacent restricted military area. South Korea immediately suspended the mountain tour program.
Still, other civilian exchanges have continued, including another tour program to the North’s ancient border city of Kaesong and a joint factory park nearby. The two programs have been considered prominent symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation. But they have also been criticized for providing hard currency that could be used for North Korea’s nuclear development.
North Korea has been particularly upset by the new South Korean administration’s position that it may selectively implement agreements that the North signed with Seoul’s previous administrations. Pyongyang demands the pacts — which involve large-scale aid projects — be carried out unconditionally.
Kim said South Korea “respects the spirit” of all agreements between the two sides and called for dialogue to discuss how to carry them out. But he stopped short of saying Seoul would implement the previous pacts.
The spokesman also urged discussions over the killing of the South Korean tourist so the mountain tour project could resume. The North has so far rejected Seoul’s demands for a joint probe.
The two Koreas fought the 1950 to 1953 Korean War that ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula technically still at war.
Their ties had warmed significantly since the first-ever 2000 summit of their leaders before freezing again this year.
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