Seoul Proposes Inter-Korean Talks
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of National Defense proposed Thursday to hold talks with North Korea to discuss the modernization of military communication lines in the North and the provision of related equipment.
The proposal came a day after Pyongyang threatened to close its land border with the South from next month, accusing the Lee Myung-bak administration of taking a hard-line policy toward it. The North also cited propaganda activities by conservative civic groups in the South.
The communist North has demanded that the South help modernize its military hotlines in the area near the western border and provide necessary equipment, including fiber-optic cables to replace copper cables. But South Korea was reluctant to accept the proposal amid frayed ties with the North. It also has linked its assistance to progress over North Korea's commitment to disabling its nuclear facilities under the six-party talks.
In a step to put pressure on Seoul, Pyongyang closed its Red Cross liaison office at the truce village of Panmunjeom and cut off direct telephone links with its South Korean counterpart.
Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Unification, meanwhile, were blunt, calling on the North to return to dialogue with South Korea to discuss pending issues.
The presidential office stressed Pyongyang's traditional tactic of alienating the South, while engaging in talks with the United States would not work anymore.
``South Korea and the United States will continue to cooperate closely even after U.S. President-elect Barack Obama takes office,'' a Cheong Wa Dae official said. ``The door for dialogue is always open. The North Korean strategy to bypass South Korea and engage with the United States is an outdated and anachronistic notion.''
Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong also urged North Korea to withhold its decision to prevent border crossings.
``It is not good that North Korea is hampering activities of innocent companies at the Gaeseong industrial complex for political reasons,'' he said during a meeting with representatives of companies operating at the joint industrial park, a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation built after the historic summit between former President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.
``The government will make the utmost effort to operate the industrial park in a stable manner because it is mutually beneficial to the South and North,'' Kim added.
The shutdown of the border, if carried out, is expected to seriously damage operation of the complex, where about 70 South Korean firms are employing over 30,000 North Koreans.
In a message to the North, the Ministry of National Defense expressed regret over the North's continued provocation, while promising efforts to stop activists from flying leaflets to the North, ministry officials said.
Last month, some anti-communist civic groups in the South floated about 100,000 leaflets by balloon into the North from boats near both the eastern and western sea borders. Families of South Koreans abducted by North Korea released balloons carrying anti-communist fliers near the inter-Korean border, defying Pyongyang's warnings amid the tense political atmosphere.