N. Korean media warns of further deterioration in ties with S. Korea

SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korean media warned Sunday the communist state's
relations with South Korea will further deteriorate next year if Seoul sticks to
its "confrontational policy" toward Pyongyang.
Inter-Korean relations have chilled since conservative South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak took office in February, vowing to get tough on Pyongyang. Lee
maintains that the South will help the North only when the communist regime gives
up its nuclear ambitions.
Lee's policy is a sharp reversal from the "sunshine policy" of engaging North
Korea that his two liberal predecessors advocated for a decade.
North Korea has accused the South of failing to honor two summit deals calling
for massive investment in the North that were reached by North Korean leader Kim
Jong-il and Lee's two predecessors.
"If the Lee Myung-bak government continues to push for its confrontational policy
next year, the North-South relations will further deteriorate," said the North
Korean Web site "Uriminjokkiri."
The North's media described the South Korean government's refusal to honor the
summit deals as a "touchstone" that led to frayed inter-Korean ties.
Two South Korean-run sightseeing tours to the North and daily cross-border train
service were suspended this year in retaliation for what Pyongyang calls Seoul's
"confrontational" policy toward it.
The halt of the train service, along with restricted border crossings, mean that
all cross-border projects -- with the exception of the Kaesong industrial complex
-- have been halted. The industrial park located in the North's western border
city is home to nearly 90 small- and medium-sized South Korean plants employing
some 35,000 North Korean workers.
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