MyUSTINET News: North Korea Stresses Dialogue

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- North Korea asked South Korea Friday to begin bilateral talks without delay and preconditions, the North's official news agency said.

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In a statement issued by KCNA and carried by China's Xinhua news agency, North Korea's Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea urged all Koreans to resolutely thwart attempts of "warlike forces" to ignite war, saying dialogue and negotiations "are the only way for averting a war, defusing confrontation and improving inter-Korean relations."

The report said South Korean authorities should discard useless misgivings and prejudices and accept the proposal.

Xinhua quoted South Korea's unification ministry as dismissing the North's statement as a "propaganda offensive" that does not help efforts to mend strained relations.

The two sides are working out details for high-level military talks, with South Korea suggesting Feb. 11 for a preparatory working-level meeting.

However, the South wants Pyongyang to accept responsibility for the sinking last March of a South Korean warship, in which more than 40 sailors died, and the shelling that killed four people on its border island in November.

Seoul also wants the North to show sincerity about denuclearization talks, which remain stalled.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg was quoted as saying in Seoul the North's uranium enrichment program is inconsistent with U.N. Security Council resolutions and its own commitments.

Concerns have been raised that the uranium enrichment program could be used to make more atomic weapons. The North is already under sanctions for conducting nuclear tests.

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