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Kim Jong-un says North Korea is open to 'highest-level' talks with South Kim Jong-un says North Korea is open to 'highest-level' talks with South
(about 9 hours later)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said on Thursday he was open to the “highest-level” talks with South Korea as he called for an improvement in strained cross-border relations. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Thursday proposed the “highest-level” talks with South Korea, opening the way to a historic summit as his communist country battles to fend off UN prosecution over its human rights record.
The offer came in Kim’s traditional new year message broadcast live on state television, according to Yonhap news agency. The sudden move, made during Kim’s traditional New Year message, would clear the path for the first inter-Korean leaders’ meeting since a 2007 summit in Pyongyang.
“We should write a new history in the North-South ties. There is no reason not to hold the highest-level talks,” he said, calling for a “big change” in strained relations between the two Koreas, which are still technically at war. “Depending on the mood and circumstances to be created, we have no reason not to hold the highest-level talks,” Kim said in the televised speech, calling for a thaw in icy relations between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war.
South Korean media said Kim was suggesting a possible summit with South Korean president Park Geun-Hye. The last inter-Korean summit was held in Pyongyang in 2007 between South Korea’s late president Roh Moo-Hyun and the North’s late leader Kim Jong-Il. Seoul welcomed the overture as “meaningful”, coming after the North’s state media had previously used sexist and personal language in attacks on South Korea’s first female president, Park Geun-Hye.
The message came days after Ryoo Kihl-Jae, the South’s unification minister in charge of inter-Korean affairs, offered to hold high-level talks with North Korea in January. Park has repeatedly said the door to dialogue with Pyongyang is open, but insists the North must first take tangible steps towards abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.
The last round of formal top-level talks was held in February and resulted in the North hosting a rare union of relatives separated by the conflict. “Our government hopes South and North Korea will hold dialogue without further ado in the near future,” Ryoo Kihl-Jae, the South’s unification minister in charge of inter-Korean affairs, told a briefing.
The two Koreas had earlier agreed to restart dialogue when a top-ranking North Korean delegation made a surprise visit to the Asian Games held in the South in October. Any talks should feature “practical and frank discussions on all issues of mutual concern”, he said.
The unusual trip raised hopes of a thaw, but was followed by a series of minor military clashes along the border that renewed tensions and talks never materialised. Kim also urged Washington to take a “bold shift” in its policy towards Pyongyang and denounced the United States for leading an international campaign over the North’s dismal human rights record.
Ties were strained further when the North angrily slammed the South for allowing its activists to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border via hot air balloons. “The US and its followers are holding on to a nasty ‘human rights’ racket, as their schemes to destroy our self-defensive nuclear deterrent and stifle our republic by force become unrealisable,” he said.
Seoul rejected Pyongyang’s demand to ban such exercises, saying there were no legal grounds to stop free activities by citizens. He described nuclear weapons as the guardian of his country and vowed to sternly retaliate against “any provocations” threatening its dignity.
Park, who came to office in early 2013, has repeatedly said the door to dialogue with Pyongyang is open, but insists the North must first take tangible steps towards abandoning its nuclear weapons programme. Pyongyang faces growing pressure over its rights record, with the UN stepping up a campaign to refer the North’s leaders to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
Kim said the North was ready to resume high-level talks and other kinds of dialogue if Seoul really wants to improve ties. The isolated nation, meanwhile, experienced an internet outage last month after Washington vowed retaliation over a crippling cyber attack blamed on North Korea against Sony, the studio behind a controversial film about a fictional plot to assassinate Kim.
“We will make every effort to advance dialogue and negotiations,” he said. A US State Department official said after Kim’s speech: “We support improved inter-Korean relations.”
Pyongyang faces growing pressure to improve its dismal human rights record as the UN steps up a campaign to refer the North’s leaders to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Kim said in his message that Pyongyang “will make every effort to advance dialogue and negotiations”, adding that the “tragic” division of the Korean peninsula should not be tolerated.
The isolated nation also suffered a mysterious Internet outage last month after Washington vowed retaliation over a crippling cyber attack on Sony, the studio behind a controversial film about a fictional plot to assassinate Kim. The leader’s tone was generally conciliatory, but he made it clear that South Korea should end its periodic joint military exercises with the United States.
In his message, the leader’s tone was generally conciliatory, but he made it clear that South Korea should end its joint military exercises with the United States. “Needless to say, faithful dialogue is not possible in such a brutal atmosphere that war exercises targeting the other side are going on,” Kim said.
Kim’s annual message, which is regarded as setting the direction of policy for the coming year, also focused on improving living standards in North Korea, which suffers chronic food shortages. The last round of high-level negotiations was held in February and resulted in the North hosting a rare union of relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
When his father Kim Jong-Il died in December 2011, he left a country in dire economic straits – the result of “military first” policy that fed an ambitious missile and nuclear programmes at the expense of a malnourished population. The two Koreas agreed to restart dialogue when a top-ranking North Korean delegation made a surprise visit to the Asian Games held in the South in October.
But Kim also urged North Koreans to spare no efforts in strengthening the country’s military power through the development of “advanced” weapons. The trip raised hopes of a thaw in relations, but was followed by minor military clashes along the border that renewed tensions and talks never materialised.
Under his leadership, North Korea has placed a satellite in orbit and last year conducted its third – and most powerful – nuclear test. Analysts said Kim was extending an olive branch after realising that Pyongyang could not end its isolation without first improving ties with Seoul.
“North Korea opted for a practical line after facing up to reality, because it is now difficult to improve ties with the United States and other countries,” Yoo Ho-Yeol, a Korea University professor, said.
Kim’s New Year message, which sets the direction of policy for the coming year, also focused on improving living standards in North Korea, which suffers chronic food shortages.
His father and late leader Kim Jong-Il, who died in December 2011, left a country in dire economic straits, the result of a “military first” policy that fed ambitious missile and nuclear programmes at the expense of a malnourished population.
Kim also used his message to urge North Koreans to work harder in strengthening the country’s military capabilities through the development of “powerful advanced” weapons.
Under the younger Kim’s leadership, North Korea has placed a satellite in orbit and conducted its third - and most powerful - nuclear test.