North Korea shouldn't avoid dialogue with South
As largely expected, North Korea has rejected the South's proposal for working-level talks at Mount Geumgang. The South reached out after North Korean media reported Oct. 23 that its leader Kim Jong-un had ordered the removal of all South Korean-built facilities from the mountain resort.
Pyongyang seems to regard holding talks with Seoul as meaningless if they are not about resuming the tour program. The North's moves are presumed to be an expression of its frustration over a lack of progress in resuming cross-border economic projects.
But the North should know there are many conditions to be met before the tour program does get back on track. It needs patience. Kim must have known that the South's decision to resume tours to Mount Geumgang would depend on progress in the denuclearization talks between the North and the U.S., even when he agreed with President Moon Jae-in in September last year to normalize the program as early as possible. Few doubted it was a conditional agreement.
It is just nonsensical for the North to keep demanding the South ignore international sanctions on the regime to follow up on the agreement, ratcheting up harsh rhetoric on Seoul and President Moon. It should stop passing responsibility to the South for the present situation, and continuously finding fault with it. The resumption of the tour project is tied to what efforts Pyongyang makes to assure the world it is sincere in fulfilling its nuclear disarmament pledge.
These are troubled times for the two Koreas; but inter-Korean talks and exchanges must continue. It is disappointing that the North has rejected offers for dialogue and humanitarian aid from the South Korean government as well as visits by private delegations, and even suspended sports exchanges.
North Korea has decided not to send its women's football team to the East Asian Football Federation-organized tournament scheduled to kick off in Busan in December. Last month, the two Koreas' men's teams played a FIFA World Cup qualifying game in an empty stadium in Pyongyang after the North blocked fans and international media from the match.
On Thursday, Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul met with the heads of South Korean firms which have assets at the Geumgang Resort. They included Bae Kook-hwan, president of Hyundai Asan Corp., the tour program operator, and Ahn Young-bae, president of the state-run Korean Tourism Organization.
The government should take measures to protect these firms' property rights at the resort, which has an important symbolic meaning for inter-Korean reconciliation and peace. North Korea should also respond to the South's efforts to resolve the problem through dialogue and mutual understanding.
As largely expected, North Korea has rejected the South's proposal for working-level talks at Mount Geumgang. The South reached out after North Korean media reported Oct. 23 that its leader Kim Jong-un had ordered the removal of all South Korean-built facilities from the mountain resort.
Pyongyang seems to regard holding talks with Seoul as meaningless if they are not about resuming the tour program. The North's moves are presumed to be an expression of its frustration over a lack of progress in resuming cross-border economic projects.
But the North should know there are many conditions to be met before the tour program does get back on track. It needs patience. Kim must have known that the South's decision to resume tours to Mount Geumgang would depend on progress in the denuclearization talks between the North and the U.S., even when he agreed with President Moon Jae-in in September last year to normalize the program as early as possible. Few doubted it was a conditional agreement.
It is just nonsensical for the North to keep demanding the South ignore international sanctions on the regime to follow up on the agreement, ratcheting up harsh rhetoric on Seoul and President Moon. It should stop passing responsibility to the South for the present situation, and continuously finding fault with it. The resumption of the tour project is tied to what efforts Pyongyang makes to assure the world it is sincere in fulfilling its nuclear disarmament pledge.
These are troubled times for the two Koreas; but inter-Korean talks and exchanges must continue. It is disappointing that the North has rejected offers for dialogue and humanitarian aid from the South Korean government as well as visits by private delegations, and even suspended sports exchanges.
North Korea has decided not to send its women's football team to the East Asian Football Federation-organized tournament scheduled to kick off in Busan in December. Last month, the two Koreas' men's teams played a FIFA World Cup qualifying game in an empty stadium in Pyongyang after the North blocked fans and international media from the match.
On Thursday, Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul met with the heads of South Korean firms which have assets at the Geumgang Resort. They included Bae Kook-hwan, president of Hyundai Asan Corp., the tour program operator, and Ahn Young-bae, president of the state-run Korean Tourism Organization.
The government should take measures to protect these firms' property rights at the resort, which has an important symbolic meaning for inter-Korean reconciliation and peace. North Korea should also respond to the South's efforts to resolve the problem through dialogue and mutual understanding.
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