N. Korea denounces S. Korea`s disclosure of 2007 summit transcripts

A North Korean agency handling inter-Korean affairs Thursday accused the South Korean government for having disclosed a transcript of an inter-Korean summit in 2007. It was the North`s first reaction to Monday`s declassification of the secret document.

"Without our approval, the (conservative) group`s unilateral opening the summit minutes to public is a mockery of the dignity of its supreme leadership and a grave provocation to the dialogue partner," said the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea in an urgent statement. "The South Korean puppet group will not be able to escape the most shameful end in face of all Koreans` condemnation and denunciation."

"It is clear to everybody that the minutes could not be opened to public without the personal approval of the present chief of Cheong Wa Dae (the South`s Office of the President)," the committee said. It accused the National Intelligence Service, the South Korean spy agency, of making public the documents in order to distract public attention from its alleged intervention in the 2012 presidential elections, saying that Seoul`s previous administration, which was keen on confrontation with fellow countrymen, even dared not open to public the minutes of the summit.

"In fact, if the issue of `following the north` should be called into question, none of the successive chief executives of South Korea who visited Pyongyang can be free," the committee claimed, suggesting that it would link the issue with South Korean President Park Geun-hye`s 2002 visit to Pyongyang. In June 2012, the committee threatened to disclose pro-North Korean remarks made by former and incumbent South Korean officials and lawmakers during their visits to Pyongyang.

The South Korean government said it would not respond to every criticism and threat by the North. A Seoul official told reporters Thursday that the North Korean reaction was "expected" and that the government decided not to officially respond to the North Korean statement. However, the official said it was "regretful" over Pyongyang`s threatening remarks.