By Jeong Nam-ku, Tokyo correspondent
Dialogue between North and South Korea could take place, though it will depend on what Park Geun-hye does, the Chosun Sinbo suggested on Feb. 6. The newspaper is the official publication of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon).
This claim was made in an article titled, “The Final Showdown: Full-Scale Conflict Following the UN Resolution (Part 4); the Limitations of Sanctions: Peace Talks Are the Solution to the Problem.”
“After the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed the resolution, North Korea came to the conclusion that the US’s policy of hostility to the North had reached a new level, and it declared that the denuclearization talks were over. Still, it is still entirely possible that talks could be resumed, provided that South Korea puts the joint interests of the people first and makes an effort to resolve the problem,” the paper said, as reported by Yonhap News.
While the Chosun Sinbo is not an official North Korean publication, in the past it has frequently represented the North’s position. Attention is focusing on whether this report reflects a North Korean desire to send a message about dialogue to the Park Geun-hye administration, which will be inaugurated on Feb. 25.
“At a time when sanctions have been imposed by the UNSC resolution, the actions taken by the new South Korean government will serve as a litmus test for the ‘process of trust’ toward normalizing relations between the North and the South,” the Chosun Sinbo also said.
Concerning the agenda for the meeting, the paper observed that “there is agreement about having three or four leaders directly connected with the issue to declare the end of the war, as was brought up in the 2007 inter-Korean summit,” referring to the peace proposal disclosed in the statement by the North Korean foreign ministry in Jan. 2013.
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