ID :
187370
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 06:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/187370
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea rules out talks with S. Korea again
SEOUL (Yonhap) - North Korea reiterated Thursday that there is no room for dialogue with South Korea, the latest sign of a deadlock over the North's two deadly attacks on South Korea last year.
Tensions have persisted between the two rival Koreas since March last year when the North torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors. The North also shelled a border island in November, killing two soldiers and two civilians.
North Korea has rejected Seoul's long-standing demand that Pyongyang take responsibility for the attacks, keeping the two sides from moving their relations forward for more than a year.
Officials of the two Koreas held secret inter-Korean meetings last month to break the impasse and allegedly lay the groundwork for possible summit talks, but the talks collapsed.
The North recently vowed not to deal with South Korea any longer and to take "retaliatory military actions" against the South for using photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as targets for military shooting practice.
Kim is the subject of a massive cult of personality in North Korea, along with his late father, the country's founder Kim Il-sung.
"Will there be any room for dialogue between the North and South?" the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said in a commentary carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
A South Korean official said he had no comment on the North's commentary.
The commentary also renewed Pyongyang's claim that its leader's photos being used in the South as shooting targets is a hideous provocation that collapsed inter-Korean relations.
Still, the commentary stressed the importance of keeping alive the spirit of the landmark summit in 2000 that paved the way for now-stalled reconciliation and cross-border projects.
The North's Kim held summit talks with two liberal South Korean presidents, first in 2000 and again in 2007.
The inter-Korean ties have worsened since 2008 when a conservative government took power in Seoul with a hard-line policy toward Pyongyang.
Tensions have persisted between the two rival Koreas since March last year when the North torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors. The North also shelled a border island in November, killing two soldiers and two civilians.
North Korea has rejected Seoul's long-standing demand that Pyongyang take responsibility for the attacks, keeping the two sides from moving their relations forward for more than a year.
Officials of the two Koreas held secret inter-Korean meetings last month to break the impasse and allegedly lay the groundwork for possible summit talks, but the talks collapsed.
The North recently vowed not to deal with South Korea any longer and to take "retaliatory military actions" against the South for using photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as targets for military shooting practice.
Kim is the subject of a massive cult of personality in North Korea, along with his late father, the country's founder Kim Il-sung.
"Will there be any room for dialogue between the North and South?" the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said in a commentary carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
A South Korean official said he had no comment on the North's commentary.
The commentary also renewed Pyongyang's claim that its leader's photos being used in the South as shooting targets is a hideous provocation that collapsed inter-Korean relations.
Still, the commentary stressed the importance of keeping alive the spirit of the landmark summit in 2000 that paved the way for now-stalled reconciliation and cross-border projects.
The North's Kim held summit talks with two liberal South Korean presidents, first in 2000 and again in 2007.
The inter-Korean ties have worsened since 2008 when a conservative government took power in Seoul with a hard-line policy toward Pyongyang.
