North Korean soldiers on guard in the truce village of Panmunjom.[A South Korean pool picture]
South Korea Monday rejected North Korea's latest proposal for military dialogue on easing tensions as a deceptive peace overture aimed at diluting an international campaign to curb its nuclear and missile programs.
In a message sent through a military hotline on Saturday, the North's defense ministry proposed holding a working-level meeting with South Korea in late May or early June to arrange military talks on easing tension. It followed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's call at a party congress this month for military dialogue to avoid armed conflicts along the heavily militarized inter-Korean border.
The South's defense ministry said its message sent Monday through a military hotline contained a flat refusal to the North's new proposal and blasted its nuclear and missile programs for heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula.
"We delivered our position clearly that North Korea should show sincerity through action on denuclearization if it really wants peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters.
He said the North's peace overture was seen as a propaganda ploy to cripple an international campaign aimed at curbing the communist country's nuclear and missile programs.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
