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north korea has sent an open letter to the south... reiterating its
determination to mend inter-korean ties. south korea has yet to respond but pyongyang
's move is likely to be
greeted with scepticism given that it comes a matter of weeks before the
start of joint drills between seoul and washington .
hwang sung-hee has the details. north korea says south korea should not
thoughtlessly doubt and rashly reject the sincere important proposal it
made last week to improve inter-korean relation s.
last week pyongyang offered to halt all cross-border slandering... and
asked seoul to call off its annual joint military drills with washington that
take place between february and march. the offer was turned down flat by the south
which called it a disguised
peace offensive. in an open letter addressed to south korea
on friday the north's powerful
national defense commission said it had already halted all acts of slandering
south korea. north korea has yet to react to comments made
by president park geun-hye
regarding the north during her trip to india and switzerland and the state-
run rodong shinmun newspaper has not published columns criticizing the
south this week. it went on to say the north did not urge seoul
to stop ordinary military
drills but to halt drills for a war staged in collusion with outside forces.
it said north korea will first implement practical measures to end all hostile
military acts that could aggravate the south .
the letter claimed pyongyang's nuclear program is purely defensive in
nature and reiterated that its will for den uclearization should not be
doubted. it stressed pyongyang is determined to create
an atmosphere of
reconciliation completely halt hostile military acts realize the reunion of
separated families and to resume tours to mount kumgangsan in the north.
experts say this letter could be an attempt by the north to pressure the
south korean government into accepting its proposal by stressing its
legitimacy. in an apparent extension of its attempt sin
son-ho the north korean
ambassador to the united nations is scheduled to hold a press conference
in geneva on friday morning local time. hwang sung-hee arirang news.
south korea's unification ministry is expected to give its official response to
the north's letter some time this afternoon .
we'll keep you updated on that in our later newscasts.