N. Korea offers talks to ease peninsula tensions
Source: Agencies |
January 9, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NORTH Korea reiterated yesterday a proposal for unconditional talks with South Korea to ease tensions on the divided peninsula.
The latest offer comes days after South Korea dismissed earlier calls by North Korea for negotiations.
Meanwhile, North Korea's official Twitter account appeared to have been hacked yesterday, which is believed to be the birthday of leader Kim Jong Il's youngest son and heir-apparent, Kim Jong Un. Four messages critical of the Kims remained posted in the account for 10 hours as of late yesterday.
"Let's make a new world by removing our people's sworn enemy - traitor Kim Jong Il and his son Kim Jong Un!" one message read. Another urged North Korea's military to "point the gun" at Kim Jong Il for diverting money to programs to build missiles and nuclear weapons.
Tensions between the two sides escalated after a North Korean artillery barrage on a South Korean-held island near their disputed maritime border killed four South Koreans in November.
The attack occurred in waters not far from where a North Korean torpedo allegedly sank a South Korean warship eight months earlier. That attack killed 46 sailors. North Korea has denied responsibility.
Separate issues
"We do not want to see the present South Korean authorities pass the five-year term of their office idly without North-South dialogue," North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"There is neither conditionality in North Korea's proposal for dialogue nor need to cast any doubt about its real intention," it said.
North Korea also proposed holding separate talks later this month or in early February on other issues, including resumption of a suspended joint tourism project and cooperation at an industrial complex in the border city of Kaesong. North Korea also suggested restarting suspended Red Cross talks on humanitarian issues.
North Korea said its offer was "a measure of good faith for opening the channel of dialogue and improving the North-South relations."
"The South Korean authorities should discard any unnecessary misgiving, open their hearts and positively respond to North Korea's proposal," the statement said.
Unification Ministry Chun Hae-sung said South Korea would review the latest offer, noting North Korea has not sent an official request for talks. North Korea called this past week for unconditional and early talks with South Korea, but Seoul dismissed the offer and urged North Korea to show it has changed through actions, not words.
Six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs have stumbled and were last held in December 2008.
In August, North Korea opened a Twitter account as part of an apparent attempt to bolster its propaganda warfare against South Korea and the United States.
The account "uriminzok," which means "our nation" in Korean, has gained 10,870 followers, with more than 1,300 tweets praising Kim Jong Il and carrying North Korean official media reports.
KCNA did neither mention the apparent hacking or any celebrations of Kim Jong Un's reported birthday yesterday.
The latest offer comes days after South Korea dismissed earlier calls by North Korea for negotiations.
Meanwhile, North Korea's official Twitter account appeared to have been hacked yesterday, which is believed to be the birthday of leader Kim Jong Il's youngest son and heir-apparent, Kim Jong Un. Four messages critical of the Kims remained posted in the account for 10 hours as of late yesterday.
"Let's make a new world by removing our people's sworn enemy - traitor Kim Jong Il and his son Kim Jong Un!" one message read. Another urged North Korea's military to "point the gun" at Kim Jong Il for diverting money to programs to build missiles and nuclear weapons.
Tensions between the two sides escalated after a North Korean artillery barrage on a South Korean-held island near their disputed maritime border killed four South Koreans in November.
The attack occurred in waters not far from where a North Korean torpedo allegedly sank a South Korean warship eight months earlier. That attack killed 46 sailors. North Korea has denied responsibility.
Separate issues
"We do not want to see the present South Korean authorities pass the five-year term of their office idly without North-South dialogue," North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"There is neither conditionality in North Korea's proposal for dialogue nor need to cast any doubt about its real intention," it said.
North Korea also proposed holding separate talks later this month or in early February on other issues, including resumption of a suspended joint tourism project and cooperation at an industrial complex in the border city of Kaesong. North Korea also suggested restarting suspended Red Cross talks on humanitarian issues.
North Korea said its offer was "a measure of good faith for opening the channel of dialogue and improving the North-South relations."
"The South Korean authorities should discard any unnecessary misgiving, open their hearts and positively respond to North Korea's proposal," the statement said.
Unification Ministry Chun Hae-sung said South Korea would review the latest offer, noting North Korea has not sent an official request for talks. North Korea called this past week for unconditional and early talks with South Korea, but Seoul dismissed the offer and urged North Korea to show it has changed through actions, not words.
Six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs have stumbled and were last held in December 2008.
In August, North Korea opened a Twitter account as part of an apparent attempt to bolster its propaganda warfare against South Korea and the United States.
The account "uriminzok," which means "our nation" in Korean, has gained 10,870 followers, with more than 1,300 tweets praising Kim Jong Il and carrying North Korean official media reports.
KCNA did neither mention the apparent hacking or any celebrations of Kim Jong Un's reported birthday yesterday.
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