Podcast: Park supports UPP disbandment, NK wants 'reciprocity' and 'The Interview' in Pyongyang
Today on The Korea Times Podcast: President Park backs the disbandment of the UPP and calls for North Korea to return to inter-Korean talks. Plus a group urges the US to accept the DPRK's summit request and a defector plans to send The Interview across the border.
Park backs the court's decision to disband UPP
In addition to apologizing for the distraction of the "memogate" scandal, President Park Geun-hye backed the Constitutional Court's landmark decision to disband the Unified Progressive Party in her New Year press conference Monday. "I don't think pro-North Korea people can be acceptable," the President said during her address, noting that her opinion on the issue remains unchanged.
Park urges NK to return to dialogue
In addition, the President said Monday that she is open to holding an inter-Korean summit without any preconditions, urging North Korea to resume talks. She also proposed a reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War next month. “I can meet anyone if it contributes to paving the way for peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula,” Park said during her New Year press conference.
NK's demand based on 'act-to-act' rule
The Chosun Shinbo, a paper published by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, said that Pyongyang's offer is in accordance with the “act-to-act” principle agreed to in the six party talks and urged Washington to accept the offer.
Defector vows to send 'The Interview' to N. Korea
A defector-turned-activist said he will send balloons containing copies of “The Interview” into North Korea next week, despite Pyongyang’s vehement protests against the satirical film. Park Sang-hak of the Seoul-based civic group Fighters for Free North Korea said he will send DVDs and USB sticks containing the film, which satirizes the Pyongyang regime and its leader Kim Jong-un, across the border beginning Jan. 20, according to local media reports.
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