South Korea is reportedly in the final stretch of its preparations for a special ASEAN summit slated to open in Pusan on Nov 25.
On Nov 5, south Korean President Moon Jae In sent a personal letter to Kim Jong Un, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, to earnestly invite him to the special summit.
There is no reason for us not to be grateful for the invitation if it reflects the sincere trust in the Chairman and carries earnest expectation.
We do know that the south side is looking forward to the Chairman’s Pusan visit, with full preparations for reception including escort and ceremonies.
We also fully understand what distress and agony President Moon Jae In has gone through to take this opportunity to set the stage for improving the present north-south relationship.
Even after the personal letter, President Moon repeatedly extended earnest requests for sending a special envoy, instead of the Chairman.
But the highly hostile atmosphere of south Korea is so skeptical about north-south relations and the south Korean authorities still wrongly intend to settle the inter-Korean issues by relying on outsiders, not by national cooperation. This is the stark reality.
Even at this moment, the minister of unification is on his way to the US over issues related to inter-Korean relations. How can we sit face to face and solve things with such a partner entrusting everything to the outsiders without any independence.
It is said that an earnest request can be read by a blind man.
Everything needs its suitable time and place.
We are quite doubtful about whether the present time is suitable for the top leaders of the north and the south to meet.
From the vociferous arguments reported by media, we are well aware that the sentiment of the south is badly negative.
The south Korean conservatives, who have unanimously accused the current regime as “pro-north” and “leftist”, are jumping on the anti-DPRK bandwagon calling for "scrapping of the north-south agreement".
Such wild words as the "regime change in north" and "leading the north to collapse" which could not even be heard from the previous regimes are being heard.
It is doubtable that summit meeting between the north and the south would be meaningful at this time.
The south Korean authorities have done little to prevent the rarely warm breeze of reconciliation and cooperation from being brought to naught. We think they would be seriously mistaken if they think they can easily turn around the present dilemma just with a piece of letter.
We cannot but ask the south side what sort of north-south relations it wants to show to foreigners after inviting them who have no interest in the destiny and future of the Korean nation at a time when repeated visits with the feelings of repentance of its wrongdoings could not be enough to offset them.
We will not blindly follow the impure attempt of the south side to give impression that dialogue is going on between the top leaders of the north and south although fundamental issues between the north and the south, issues pertaining to the nation, have yet to be addressed, and to insert the inter-Korean issue to the corner of their "neo-southern policy".
How can the hand-shaking and photo-taking in the complicated international meeting that is of no interest to us be compared with the historic events when the top leaders of the north and the south held their hands high up together on Mt Paektu, the sacred mountain of the nation.
As the agreements made in Panmunjom, Pyongyang and Mt Paektu have hardly been implemented, another summit for the mere form's sake would be pointless. This is our stand.
They should have clearly understood the reason behind the present downturn in inter-Korean relations. However, not content with that bitter dependence on the US, the south side has come up with an offer for discussing north-south relations on the multi-lateral platform. This makes us only dubious.
If children mulled over piling up eggs on a horn, it can be ascribable to their innocence. But, now that those taking the helm of south Korea set themselves to meditating on how to draw a picture on water, far from pondering over their wrong deeds and failures, how can relations be improved and when will the flower of reconciliation and cooperation bloom again?
Explicitly speaking again, it is important to choose a proper time and place, if everything is to be done well. Therefore, it can be said for sure that a good result cannot be produced though a number of meetings are held with those ignorant of such reason.
Under these circumstances, there would be no option for us but to see with patience when an independent decision would start to bloom and grow from that barren mental soil.
We are grateful for the expectation and sincerity of the south side but we hope it would understand why we fail to find out a proper reason for the Chairman’s visit to Pusan.
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