Roundup: Prospects dimmer over resuming inter-Korean dialogue

Prospects got dimmer for the resumption of inter-Korean talks as South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) all showed unwillingness in taking a step back from respective calls.

South Korea has demanded the DPRK first return to dialogue table to discuss all issues of mutual concern despite Pyongyang's calls for the suspension of joint annual military exercises between Seoul and Washington and the stop of anti-DPRK leaflets dispersion by South Korean civic groups.

South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol told a press briefing Monday that the Park Geun-hye administration has no plan to accept preconditions, which the DPRK has proposed to resume talks with South Korea.

His comments came after the DPRK's National Defense Commission said Sunday that "even a basic dialogue mood has not been formed," citing the planned annual war games between South Korea and the United States, and Seoul's connivance at the scattering of anti- DPRK leaflets floated by civic groups.

A thawing mood on the Korean Peninsula emerged in late December after Seoul's Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae offered to hold inter-Korean talks in January to discuss "urgent" issues, such as reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

President Park has emphasized the urgency of the humanitarian issue as time is running out for the separated families due to their old age. More than 70,000 South Koreans have been on the waiting list for reunion with their long-lost relatives since 1988, with all applicants likely to pass away in 20 years due to aging.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in a positive response during his New Year's speech that there is "no reason not to hold the highest- level talks" with South Korea as well as other forms of high-level dialogue.

Eleven days later, South Korean President Park said in her New Year's press conference that she can meet with Kim without any preconditions to help ease pains of the divided peninsula and for peaceful reunification.

But the dialogue mood was dented again after a South Korean civic group, composed largely of "defectors" from the DPRK, floated anti-DPRK leaflets. Fighters for Free North Korea said it flew about 100,000 anti-DPRK leaflets via balloons across the demilitarized zone at night on Jan. 19.

In October 2014, the DPRK shot at balloons carrying anti-DPRK leaflets, resulting in the failure of the inter-Korean talks agreed when three top-level DPRK officials made a surprise visit to South Korea to join the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the private Sejong Institute, said South Korea took "tepid" measures toward the leaflet spread, which incites the weakest DPRK people to cause uprisings, noting that the South Korean government should go so far as to "control" such activities.

Pyongyang called for the suspension of joint war games between Seoul and Washington this year in return for its suspension of nuclear tests, but South Korea has said it will conduct the drills of "defensive nature" as planned.

The "Key Resolve" command post exercise and the "Foal Eagle" field training drill are scheduled for early March to April. The " Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG)" computer-assisted simulation exercise tends to kick off in mid-August.

"The timing of inter-Korean dialogue resumption would come after the joint military drills end," said Cheong.

Under the presidencies of late Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun from 1998 to 2007, the two Koreas halted talks during the South Korea-U.S. military exercises period. The two former South Korean presidents maintained good relationship with the DPRK, holding summits with former DPRK leader Kim Jong Il.

On Jan. 23, the DPRK also called for the lifting of sanctions imposed by South Korea to resolve the issue of family reunion. The May 24 sanctions, which banned all inter-Korean exchanges except for the Kaesong industrial zone, were imposed by Seoul in 2010 when a South Korean Navy corvette sank in waters near the disputed western sea border.

South Korea has claimed that it was caused by a DPRK torpedo attack, but Pyongyang has denied its involvement. Seoul said it can put the issue on the dialogue agenda if inter-Korean talks are resumed, but it has called for the DPRK's responsible measures and apology for the incident.

Pyongyang also has called for resuming tours to the scenic Mount Kumgang resort in the DPRK's southeast coast. The tour, launched in 1998, was halted in July 2008 when a South Korean female tourist was shot dead by a DPRK soldier after venturing into an off-limit area.

In February 2014, the first family reunion in more than three years was held at the Mount Kumgang resort at the request of South Korea, but Seoul refused to accept Pyongyang's demand for talks about the resumption of the inter-Korean tourism project.

"North Korea (DPRK) may believe that it has little to lose amid reduced economic cooperation with South Korea, and it may lead to North Korea's hard-liner stance," said Cheong. "Now, there is no tourism project and economic cooperation." Endi