Following a number of recent missile launches, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has stated his readiness to reestablish contacts with South Korea as soon as possible.
Kim Jong Un Ordered To Restore Stalled Communication With South Korea
In a recently published article in Newsweek, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on Thursday that in early October, he instructed authorities to repair blocked communication lines with South Korea to promote peace while dismissing recent U.S. proposals for talks as more clever methods for the U.S. to hide its animosity toward the North.
Kim's remarks, which were reported by state media, seem to be an attempt to create a gap between Seoul and Washington. He wants South Korea to assist him in obtaining relief from crushing US-led economic sanctions and other concessions. Pyongyang has proposed conditional talks with Seoul recently while also conducting its first missile tests in six months and ramping up its criticism of the U.S.
Kim Jong Un expressed his desire to reestablish inter-Korean communication liaison lines, which had been cut off due to worsening relations, as part of efforts to realize the expectation and desire of the entire nation, which wants the current tense inter-Korean relations to be rehabilitated as soon as possible and lasting peace to be established on the Korean peninsula, according to a report published in the Firstpost.
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Kim's Statement Over South Korea
Kim said that relations with Seoul remain tense and uncomfortable, accusing South Korean officials of disregarding and neglecting a deteriorating dynamic between the two Koreas and preferring the United States and seeking more sophisticated weapons.
Kim added, "Now the inter-Korean relations are at the crossroads of serious choice whether to remove the present frozen relations and take the road of reconciliation and cooperation or to keep suffering the pain of division in the vicious cycle of confrontation," according to a published article in Market Watch.
The monarch urged South Korean authorities to change their attitude toward North Korea by seeking peace rather than militarily containing the nuclear-armed state. He also said that whether inter-Korean relations be repaired and developed to a new level or remain in the condition of degradation that they are today is determined by the attitude of the South Korean government.
South Korean President Repeatedly Called for Better Relations
In a published article in France24, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has frequently advocated for improved ties with North Korea, and he used his U.N. General Assembly address last week to push for an ultimate declaration to end the technical state of war that has existed between the two countries since their 1950s battle.
Meanwhile, according to Kim Yo Jong, deputy department head of the governing Korean Workers' Party Central Committee, and Kim Jong Un's sister, Moon's suggestion is an intriguing and excellent concept. However, in terms similar to those of her brother and other top North Korean leaders, she said that mutual respect must be preserved and that biased viewpoints, persistent hostile policies, and unfair double standards must be eliminated before such a step can be contemplated.