Seoul blocks process of improving inter-Korean relations-NKorea

PYONGYANG, February 20 (Itar-Tass) - The South Korean authorities,
spurning down a peaceful dialogue, "block process of improving
inter-Korean relations". This claim was made by North Korean leading
newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
The commentary, published by the newspaper on Sunday, notes that Seoul
is active, as before, in pursuing the anti-Pyongyang policy and carries
out several military exercises, "fanning up tension in the Korean
Peninsula where a war may flare up any time over tough confrontation".
The newspaper believes that South Korea is obliged to abandon "the
reckless and hostile policy against the DPRK, running counter to
aspirations of the entire Korean nation" and to take immediate measures to
create an atmosphere of reconciliation and trust between the North and the
South. It is possible only under such conditions to resume the dialogue
and talks between the two sides, the newspaper notes.
In the newspaper's opinion, the joint declarations, signed by the
North and the South in 2000 and 2007, can be the grounds for improving
inter-Korean relations. The newspaper claims that provisions in the
documents, opening the way to national reconciliation and unification of
the homeland, "are backed by virtually all Koreans". Therefore, the South
Korean authorities should start implementing these historic documents "to
ensure a lasting peace in the Korean peninsula".
The joint declaration of June 15 was signed during the Pyongyang visit
by Kim Dae-jung, who was the South Korean president in 2000 and who met
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. The North Korean leader and South Korea's
President Roh Moo-hyun signed the eight-point The Declaration on the
Advancement of South-North Korean Relations, Peace and Prosperity at a
ceremony in Pyongyang on October 4, 2007.