SEOUL, June 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's top policymaker in charge of inter-Korean relations said Wednesday that the abrupt call-off of high-level inter-governmental talks between Seoul and Pyongyang would be a temporary pain for new inter-Korean relations, implying that Seoul is still open to the dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"(The cancellation of the scheduled talks) is a pain for new inter-Korean relations" Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae told reporters before holding a meeting with senior officials at the Unification Ministry. "North Korea (DPRK) should also show sincere attitude (toward South Korea) to go to the new relations."
Regarding his comments, an official at the Unification Ministry told Xinhua that the minister intended to reiterate his willingness that South Korea was open to a dialogue with Pyongyang.
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-seok said in the prior day that the South Korean government was still open to the dialogue, but he stressed that the DPRK should take sincere attitude.
Minister Ryoo noted that the scheduled talks were "called off" rather than delayed, indicating the high-level talks between Seoul and Pyongyang would be hard in the near future.
South Korea and the DPRK agreed at the working-level talks Monday to hold their first high-level talks in six years, but the talks scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Seoul were called off on Tuesday due to disagreement over the level of chief delegates.
South Korea's five-member delegation was expected to be led by Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-shik, but the DPRK lashed out at such nomination of a low-level official, according to the unification ministry. Pyongyang nominated Kang Ji-young, director at the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (DPRK) as chief delegate.
Seoul originally planned to send Unification Minister Ryoo to the meeting as the chief negotiator and wanted Kim Yang Gon, secretary of the Central Committee of Workers'Party of Korea, at the talks.
Meanwhile, Pyongyang did not answer a call made by Seoul at 9 a.m. through the communication line at the truce village of Panmunjom, the unification ministry said,
The ministry was scheduled to make another call in the afternoon through the same line.
SEOUL, June 11 (Xinhua) -- High-level inter-governmental talks between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) scheduled to be held on Wednesday and Thursday in Seoul was called off due to the disagreement over the level of chief delegates, the South Korean Unification Ministry said Tuesday. Full story
BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- People in this part of the world woke up Monday morning finally getting an encouraging sign on the perennially volatile Korean Peninsular.
After months of super high tensions featuring heated talks of war and intensive saber rattling, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) agreed earlier in the day to hold their first high-level meeting in six years later this week. Full story
SEOUL/PYONGYANG, June 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have agreed to hold a government meeting in Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday to resolve inter-Korean issues that can help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, media reported Monday.
The decision was made at the working-level talks between the two sides conducted at the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. Full story
SEOUL, June 9 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held working-level talks on Sunday morning at Panmunjom border village, the first inter-governmental talks in over two years.
South Korean Unification Ministry held a press briefing shortly after the morning talks concluded. The spokesman of the ministry said that the talks continued about one hour and concluded at around 11 am local time. During the talks, representatives discussed details about the upcoming ministerial meeting to be held in Seoul on Wednesday. Full story
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