Pyongyang urges Seoul to stop military exercise to show ‘sincerity’ over talks

North Korea on Friday continued its threats to South Korea, calling for a halt to its annual joint military exercises with the United States while remaining silent about Seoul’s offer of inter-Korean talks. The North argues that the South should show its “sincerity” by addressing conditions for the dialogue.

The Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North’s ruling Korean Workers` Party, said in a commentary that the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises are “blatant military threats and acts of hostility” to the North, warning that the drill could bring about a “calamity of a nuclear war.”

“If (Seoul) truly wants North-South talks and improved ties, it should demonstrate its sincerity by taking actual action to stop all the war rehearsals against North Korea,” the daily said.

Seoul plans to make preparations for inter-Korean talks in consideration of the possibility that the North was making the arguments in an attempt to strengthen its negotiating power ahead of the dialogue. While the South Korean government plans to start preparing for family reunions once the two Koreas reach an agreement, it does not rule out the possibility that Pyongyang’s stiff attitude could delay a reunion until after the Lunar New Year’s holiday, which falls on February 19.

Meanwhile, South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae told a forum in Seoul on Friday that Pyongyang should come to the negotiating table without suspecting Seoul’s sincerity. “North Korea keeps raising issues similar to conditions. This is an attitude of avoiding dialogue.”