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S.Korea regrets DPRK's link family reunion to sanctions lifting

Xinhua, January 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Korea expressed regrets Friday over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) seeking to link the reunion of families, separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, to lifting sanctions imposed by South Korea. "It is regrettable that North Korea (DPRK) links a sheer humanitarian issue of family reunion to an issue of lifting the May 24 measures, which has no relevance to it," the Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said in a statement.

The statement came after the DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said Friday that any inter-Korean dialogue, contact and exchange would not be possible without resolving the issue of the May 24 sanctions.

The May 24 sanctions were imposed by South Korea in 2010 after the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan sank in waters near the disputed western sea border. The sanctions banned all inter-Korean exchanges except for the joint factory park in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong.

Seoul has insisted that the warship sinking, which killed 46 soldiers, was caused by a DPRK torpedo attack, but Pyongyang repeatedly denied its involvement.

The ministry said it has maintained a position that Seoul can discuss all issues of mutual concern, including the May 24 sanctions that Pyongyang is interested in, irrespectively of dialogue form.

It said the sanctions issue should be resolved through dialogue as it needs responsible measures from the DPRK, urging Pyongyang to respond to Seoul's dialogue offer without demanding any unreasonable preconditions.

South Korea has offered to hold talks with the DPRK in January to discuss all issues of mutual concern, including the family reunion. Seoul has called for the reunion event to be held in Lunar New Year's holidays that fall in mid-February in 2015. Endit