hankyoreh

scattering leaflets over a parking lot in Paju

Seoul is ruling out a planned round of high-level inter-Korean talks after a recent ultimatum from North Korea declaring there will be no dialogue if any further balloon launches of propaganda leaflets take place.

The move suggests the tug-of-war over the leaflets has finally put paid to the resumption of dialogue heralded by a South Korea visit from core members of North Korea’s leadership early last month.

“We see this as meaning the second round of high-level inter-Korean talks is off,” said Ministry of Unification spokesman Lim Byung-chul in a briefing on Nov. 2.

“The [South Korean] administration doesn’t have plans for any additional measures with North Korea,” Lim added, suggesting Seoul will not be proposing any new dates for talks.

South and North had earlier agreed to hold a second round of high-level talks in late October or early November, following a visit on Oct. 4 by Workers’ Party of Korea political bureau chief Hwang Pyong-so and other core leadership figures to attend the closing ceremony of the Asian Games in Incheon. Pyongyang previously failed to respond when Seoul suggested Oct. 30 as a date.

Now it‘s Seoul that has moved to declare the talks off the table.

The ultimatum from Pyongyang came one day earlier on Nov. 1, with a statement from the People’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF), North Korea‘s organization for relations with the South.

“There can be no North-South dialogue or improvement in North-South relations as long as there is no stop to the leaflet scattering foolishness,” the statement read.

While Pyongyang had reacted sensitively to the leaflet launches several times in the past, this was the first official mention of a possible halt to dialogue.

Analysts took Lim’s remarks the following day about the talks being “off” as Seoul’s reaction to the stance from Pyongyang.

Seoul’s decision may also have been influenced by Pyongyang‘s blunt denunciations of President Park Geun-hye and threats against the refugee groups responsible for the balloon launches. The CPRF statement on Nov. 1 referred to Park without her title - a gesture of overt disrespect in Korea - and described her as the “behind-the-scenes mastermind of the leaflet escapades.” It also warned of a “punishment operation to sternly wipe out” the refugee groups if Seoul did not take action to stop them.

“The by-name denunciations of our President and the references to ‘punishing’ our citizens are words that cannot be tolerated under inter-Korean agreements and international norms,” Lim said of the statement.

The blunt references to Park in particular may be read as Pyongyang’s response to the “affront to our supreme dignity” that it has said the leaflets represent - suggesting common ground may be difficult to find.

Lim said the administration “has not changed in its position of opening the door for dialogue and discussing and resolving all concerns in a forum for dialogue.”

But with the attempt at a second round of high-level talks falling through, the chances of a new breakthrough in dialogue appear slim for now.

By Kim Oi-hyun, staff reporter

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