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President Moon Jae-in |
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un |
South Korea cannot be a mediator between North Korea and the U.S. because what the North is discussing with the U.S. are matters for the South's own matters, they said.
The reports are deemed as aimed to cause a rift in the alliance between Seoul and Washington as Pyongyang is trying to have sanctions lifted by Washington through their denuclearization talks.
"The South's unification ministry made it a goal (this year) to drive talks between Washington and Pyongyang through inter-Korean dialogues," the North's propaganda Uriminzokkiri said in a commentary.
"But Seoul failed to live a lie by announcing that it would also come up with mediated settlements under close cooperation with Washington," it said.
The criticism came a day after the Ministry of Unification published the 2019 unification white paper. In the annual publication, the ministry underlined its achievements in enhancing inter-Korean relations last year represented by three summits between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The ministry said it would expand the reconciliatory momentum between the two Koreas this year by playing a continued mediating role for resumption in talks between Washington and Pyongyang. The rare dialogue momentum between the two was suspended in the wake of the breakdown of the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and the regime's young leader last month.
"The ministry reiterated its old arguments that the inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges would be carried out under the framework of the ongoing international sanctions on the North," the North's state-controlled media said.
Maeari, another propaganda site of the North, also stepped up criticism of the South, saying that Seoul is walking on eggshells around Washington too much.
"The South Korean foreign ministry fails to take any practical measures to improve fundamentals in inter-Korean relations, only being conscious of the U.S.," it said.
The site went on to urge the South to be more active in the ongoing denuclearization talks on the Korean Peninsula.
"The South should play its role as an interested party (directly involved in the nuclear talks here) by being able to raise its voice to the U.S.," it said.