Asia-Pacific

DPRK hints at stopping all dialogue with ROK

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-16 09:16

SEOUL: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) threatened Friday to break off all dialogue and negotiations with the Republic of Korea (ROK) in anger over Seoul's alleged contingency plan to deal with potential unrest in the DPRK.

The National Defense Commission - the DPRK's most powerful state organ headed by leader Kim Jong-il - also warned the DPRK will initiate a "retaliatory holy war" against the ROK over the plan, which the DPRK claims is aimed at toppling its regime.

The rare statement from the commission comes amid diplomatic efforts to revive stalled international talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs. It also comes as the DPRK has offered conciliatory gestures to the ROK, including one on Thursday to discuss restarting stalled tour programs.

The DPRK stopped short of saying whether it will push for Seoul's exclusion in the broader disarmament talks that involve the US, China, Russia, Japan and the ROK, which Pyongyang is boycotting.

The statement also said, however, the ROK could still salvage dialogue by apologizing to the DPRK for what it called unspecified "crimes" against it.

Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a private security thinktank near Seoul, said the DPRK was issuing a warning it may not talk to the ROK in future disarmament negotiations as it did to Japan in some previous rounds.

The DPRK accused the ROK of having completed the plan and was in the process of putting it into action.

"A retaliatory holy war will be launched to blow away the headquarters of ROK authorities," said the statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

The DPRK occasionally issues statements that include threats to destroy the ROK. Authorities in Seoul monitor them carefully though usually take them in stride.

The statement also urged ROK to punish those who engaged in drafting the plan while demanding South Korea disband its top spy agency and the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.

The ROK has reportedly drawn up a military operations plan with the United States to cope with possible emergencies in the DPRK. The ROK's Defense Ministry has consistently declined to comment about the existence of such a plan.

The ROK has also recently modified its own independent contingency plans in the event of turmoil in the DPRK, the ROK's mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported earlier this week, citing an unidentified government official.

Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung expressed deep regret Friday over the DPRK's rhetoric, which he said was driven by unconfirmed media reports.

The DPRK's warning came just two hours after it told the ROK it will accept 10,000 tons of the ROK's previous food aid offer, said Chun.

The DPRK's state media did not mention the food aid.

For a decade, the ROK was one of the biggest donors to the DPRK before President Lee Myung-bak took office in 2008 with a pledge to get tough on the DPRK and halted unconditional assistance.

The DPRK's latest threat called into question its recent overtures toward ROK and marked a clear departure from its New Year day's commitment to improve relations.

On Thursday, the DPRK proposed holding talks with the ROK later this month on restarting joint tour programs stalled over the shooting death of a southern tourist and Pyongyang's anger over Seoul's hard-line policies.