The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) has agreed to dismantle its Yongbyon nuclear facility by October in exchange for international aid but rejected the proposal of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to resume their stalled reconciliation talks.
The DPRK yesterday said the ROK president's offer is a "deceitful" tactic to avoid taking responsibility for the deterioration in bilateral ties.
The DPRK's main state newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in a commentary that Lee Myung-bak's proposal was not even worth considering. In a speech on Friday, Lee had offered to resume government-level talks with Pyongyang, which were suspended after his conservative government took office in February.
Lee said his administration was willing to discuss how to implement the previous accords with Pyongyang, which his liberal predecessors had reached with DPRK leader Kim Jong-il at the 2000 and 2007 summits.
"Why are more talks necessary?" the DPRK newspaper said. "Lee's anti-unification, confrontational charter was clearly revealed" in his speech, it said.
Of late, Lee has softened his stance on the DPRK amid concern that the ROK could be left with little say in international issues at a time when progress in the Six-Party Talks is bringing Pyongyang and Washington closer.
Nuclear Deal Reached
On Saturday, the six countries attending the talks in Beijing agreed to help the DPRK with economic aid, including heavy fuel oil (HFO), if it disables its Yongbyon nuclear facility completely.
The DPRK will allow international experts to visit its nuclear facilities, review its documents and interview technical personnel, says a communiqu issued by China's chief negotiator Wu Dawei at the end of the three-day talks.
