Earlier last month, South Korea proposed high-level talks with the North for discussions on various pending issues, including reunions of separated families.
Following a month-long silence, North Korea said on Sept. 13 that Seoul activists should first stop all anti-Pyongyang hostile activities, including floating propaganda leaflets into its territory, before making such a “deceptive” offer.
Speaking at a forum, South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae called on Pyongyang to come to the negotiating table, adding that an array of pending issues between the two Koreas can be solved only through face-to-face dialogue.
“The (Seoul) government is ready to deal with all pending issues by putting them on the negotiating table,” Ryoo said.
He said the two Koreas’ communication channels are closed, stressing the need to revive dialogue between the two Koreas.
Ryoo added that the Seoul government will make efforts to improve the North’s dismal human rights conditions.
“The international community is well aware of North Korea’s appalling human rights situation,” he said.
The unification ministry said Wednesday that Seoul wants to include the North’s human rights situation on the agenda of any future talks between the two sides.
Foreign ministers’ talks on North Korea’s human rights conditions were held Tuesday in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se proposed that the two Koreas convene talks on the matter.
Ryoo also stressed the importance of promoting international cooperation to brace for unification, saying that the two Koreas and their neighboring countries need to participate in various logistics projects in the North.
He said that efforts should be made to invite more countries, such as China and Japan, to potential logistics projects in North Korea. Currently, the two Koreas and Russia are involved in the so-called Rajin-Khasan logistics project linking the North Korean port city to Russia’s Trans-Siberian railway.
The minister, meanwhile, said that he believes it is possible to create a joint unification committee between the two Koreas if Pyongyang accepts such an offer.
South Korea launched a committee in July to prepare for reunification with North Korea. South Korean President Park Geun-hye chairs the committee comprising government officials and private experts.