S. Korea denies it begged for summit talks with N. Korea

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea renewed its denial Friday of North Korea's claims that it begged for summit talks with the North and tried to bribe North Korean officials. Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik told lawmakers that Seoul sought to coax North Korea into offering an apology for its two deadly attacks on the South last year as an exit for the deadlock gripping the rival Koreas. North Korea, however, seriously "distorted" what was discussed at its secret meeting with South Korea last month, Kim said. The North claimed Wednesday that Seoul proposed holding three summit meetings with Pyongyang and even offered an envelope of cash as an inducement. Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, Seoul's point man on the North, also told lawmakers that the unprecedented disclosure would be aimed at getting Seoul into trouble and splitting public opinion in the South. Some liberal activists called on the conservative government to ease its hard-line stance and resume aid to the North, but Kim indicated that Seoul will not change its current policy toward Pyongyang. "If the government shifts its fundamental policy, it will give the North a harsh signal," Kim said. The North denies its involvement in the sinking of a South Korean warship and said its shelling of a frontline South Korean island was part of its "self-defensive measure" against South Korea's military drills. Seoul has made Pyongyang's apology for the two attacks that killed 50 South Koreans a key condition for improving inter-Korean relations and resuming the international talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs. The leaders of the two Koreas have so far held summit talks twice, first in 2000 and again in 2007.