Pyongyang remains silent on Seoul’s dialogue offer for 2 weeks

North Korea on Wednesday denounced the United States for hampering improvements in the inter-Korean relations.

Citing Washington’s move to impose sanctions on North Korea for the alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures, the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North’s ruling Workers` Party of Korea, argued that the United States “has deliberately encouraged confrontations and a bloody war mode whenever there were signs of less tension on the Korean Peninsula.” The paper urged South Korea to “join forces” with the North to stand up against U.S. “intervention.”

Still, Pyongyang continued to remain silent on Seoul’s offer of inter-Korean talks, even two weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year’s address that he saw “ no reason not to hold the highest-level talks (with Seoul).”

Lim Byeong-cheol, a spokesman for Seoul’s Unification Ministry, urged Pyongyang to “come to the negotiating table immediately.” He noted that Seoul had no plan to take further measures following its recent dialogue overture but would wait for Pyongyang’s response. He also noted that the South Korean government is asking North Korea human rights groups in Seoul to refrain from flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets.

Another Seoul official said that the North was probably calculating the South’s stance toward Pyongyang’s conditions for talks such as a halt in the spread of anti-North leaflets and South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises. The official noted that January 20, when a South Korean activist group plans to fly balloons containing Sony Pictures’ controversial film “The Interview,” is a “crucial” day.