N. Korea to receive no aid from South if boycott continues

SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will receive no economic aid from South
Korea in the new year if it continues to boycott dialogue, Seoul's unification
minister said Wednesday, renewing calls for a change in its attitude.

Kim Ha-joong, however, did not openly link inter-Korean relations to Pyongyang's
denuclearization as he did last year, drawing acerbic reactions from the North.
Briefing President Lee Myung-bak over the unification ministry's policy goals for
2009, Kim said his ministry will continue offering dialogue and economic
incentives, but nothing will materialize if Pyongyang refuses to talk.
"As long as North Korea shows no change in its attitude, the situation is
expected to remain the same as now," Kim said.
Inter-Korean relations dipped to a record low during Lee's first year in office.
The conservative leader adopted a tougher policy than his liberal predecessors,
with calls for North Korea to give up nuclear weapons and improve its dire human
rights condition.
Pyongyang cut off dialogue in retaliation.
Seoul gave no government-to-government food aid this past year, compared to 246.6
billion (US$186 million) won worth of food and fertilizer delivered to Pyongyang
in 2007.
Kim said Seoul will help plant trees, build railways and roads and develop
mineral mines in North Korea to help rebuild its moribund economy. But all those
measures will be taken "according to the progress of inter-Korean relations," he
said.
In a break from this past year, the 2009 report did not mention Lee's election
pledge to increase North Korea's per capita income to $3,000 should Pyongyang
abandon its nuclear program. North Korea has rejected Lee's so-called
"Denuclearization, Openness, 3000" campaign as "vicious."
Ministry officials said Seoul's position remains unchanged.
Seoul will also seek "a fundamental solution" to have former soldiers and
civilians held in North Korea returned, and food aid may be provided in exchange
for Pyongyang's actions, the minister said.
But prospects for inter-Korean relations remain dim. The minister did not respond
to Pyongyang's repeated demand that the current Seoul government make an official
pledge to implement economic cooperation projects agreed upon by Lee's two
liberal predecessors, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, who promised huge incentives
during their summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000 and 2007,
respectively.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)