N. Korea signals openness to dialogue if talks serve its interests: unification minister
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks during a parliamentary interpellation session held at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
North Korea is signaling that it is open to dialogue with the United States if such talks serve its interests, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Thursday, a day after the sister of the North's leader Kim Jong-un said dialogue with Washington remains among potential options for peace.
Chung offered the assessment during a parliamentary interpellation session as Seoul seeks to resume diplomacy with Pyongyang to ease cross-border tension and improve inter-Korean relations.
"(North Korea) is sending a signal that possibilities of dialogue remain open if talks serve its interests," the minister said. "Yesterday, (the North) said directly that it understands dialogue is necessary for peace."
He pointed out the North has made clear a precondition for dialogue, under which what it regards as hostile policies toward it, including sanctions pressure, military drills and human rights issues, should be corrected or revised.
Noting that Pyongyang is calling for "respect and consideration" if Seoul wants to see a turnaround in inter-Korean relations, Chung said, "I want to say exactly the same thing to the North."
In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North's leader, said that dialogue with the U.S. is included among the potential options for peace, but it is "not surely equated with national interests."
Kim also reiterated the North's rejection of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) announcement that Pyongyang was responsible for a crypto theft worth more than $6 billion from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.