SKorea seeks to calm NKorea following threat (AP)
By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer 18 minutes ago
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea sought to calm North Korea on Friday after the communist nation threatened to end all relations with the South, saying Seoul does not want confrontation with Pyongyang and dialogue is the best way to resolve problems.
North Korea made the threat Thursday, accusing the South of seeking a policy of "reckless confrontation" with it. The warning was seen as an attempt to pressure Seoul's new conservative government to change its hard-line stance on Pyongyang.
The warning raised concern in South Korea that the North may ditch two key civilian projects between the sides — a tour program and an industrial park project — which have continued despite a freeze in government-level exchanges and dialogue.
"We don't in any way want confrontation with North Korea," said Kim Ho-nyeon, spokesman for Seoul's Unification Ministry in charge of relations with Pyongyang. "Our position remains unchanged that we want to resolve all problems through dialogue between the South and the North."
North Korea has been unhappy with South Korea's new President Lee Myung-bak, who took office in February with a pledge to get tough on the rival state — a stance that contrasted with that of his two liberal predecessors who aggressively sought reconciliation by providing massive aid to the impoverished nation.
Pyongyang has suspended all government-level dialogue and exchanges, though the sides met as part of broader international negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear programs. It has also rejected a food aid proposal and dialogue offers from the South, saying they lacked sincerity.
Ties frayed further after a South Korean woman was shot dead by a North Korean soldier in July during a tour to the North's Diamond Mountain resort after she entered an adjacent restricted military area. South Korea immediately suspended the mountain tour program.
Still, other civilian exchanges have continued, including another tour program to the North's ancient border city of Kaesong and a joint factory park nearby, and Thursday's warning meant the North could suspend the two programs and other civilian exchanges.
North Korea has been particularly upset about the new South Korean administration's position that it may selectively implement agreements that the North signed with Seoul's previous administrations. Pyongyang demands Seoul promise to unconditionally carry out those pacts laden with massive aid projects.
Kim said South Korea "respects the spirit" of all agreements between the two sides and called for dialogue with Pyongyang to discuss how to carry them out. But he stopped short of directly saying Seoul will implement all previous pacts with the North.
The spokesman also called for talks with the North to discuss investigating the July tourist killing so that the mountain tour project can resume. The North has so far rejected Seoul's demands for cooperation with a probe.
The North's threat came days after it resumed a stalled nuclear disarmament process after the United States removed it from a terrorism blacklist, and amid lingering questions about the health of the North's leader Kim Jong Il.
The two Koreas fought the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula technically still at war. Their ties had warmed significantly since the first-ever 2000 summit of their leaders before freezing again this year.
