Posted on 04/15/2013 4:57:25 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
S Korea "regrets" North rejection of dialogue
South Korea voiced regret at North Korea's dismissal of its offer for dialogue, as the South's armed forces remained on heightened alert for an expected missile test by Pyongyang.
Both President Park Geun-Hye and her Unification Ministry have, in recent days, made tentative proposals for talks in an apparent bid to reduce soaring military tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The North's immediate response was negative, calling the offers "empty" and a "crafty trick" to cover up Seoul's aggressive and confrontational policies.
"It is very regrettable that the North dismissed our offer for dialogue, which had been made after much deliberation," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-Seok told reporters.
The response from Pyongyang was "totally incomprehensible to us and the international community," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...
At first, SK goverment officials made some wimpy comments. They basically said, "Well, this is just an initial response. They may not 'mean it.' Let's wait a little longer before we are jumping to conclusions."
This was during the day. On Sunday evening, there was a meeting where President Park and all national security staffs were present. In the meeting, the president voiced her "deep displeasure" on N. Korea's response. Then officials took a u-turn and hurriedly arranged a press briefing to issue an official statement that SK goverment is also displeased. Around 9:35 PM, Sunday.
There were speculations on why the tide turned so abruptly. Some blame it on the president's indecisiveness, others blame on officials who spoke too soon before clearing it with the president. Still others begin to suspect that Obama and Kerry have pushed Park to go soft but Park put a brake on it. Any of these things is possible, but the last scenario is indeed plausible.
P!
Regarding my comment, here is a relevant link:
http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/04/15/2013041500184.html?news_Head1
has John Kerry sold them to China yet?
“has John Kerry sold them to China yet?”
He’s fervently working on it. Give him just a day or two more and he”ll have the deal wrapped up, along with unprecedented concessions relating to the US for good measure!
If he sells S Korea to China N Korea would not dare attack. See how good diplomacy is?
/sarc
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