Unification minister: Pyongyang should act to improve inter-Korean ties

North Korea must show it is serious about improving relations with the South by taking concrete actions that backs up its peace rhetoric, the unification minister said Wednesday. Ryoo Kihl-jae said in a keynote speech delivered at a local academic gathering that it is hard to place trust on the North's true intentions by words alone. "Seoul's calls for the North to take steps to adhere to past promises and give up its nuclear ambitions are not designed to place barriers to hinder the start of fresh six-party talks but aim to lay the foundation for real progress if meetings are held," the minister said Six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan began in 2003 to end Pyongyang's nuclear program, but have been stalled since late 2008 after six rounds of negotiations failed to find middle ground on the critical security issue. Of the six participants, Pyongyang and Beijing have actively pursued resumption of the negotiations in recent months, but Seoul and Washington have insisted that the communist country must first announce it will honor its promises to give up its nuclear ambitions. "Talks for the sake of talks alone are not important, and South Korea's goal is use the negotiations to resolve the nuclear standoff," the official said. He pointed out that the North already agreed in the Sept. 19 joint statement of 2005 and another pact reached with the United States on Feb. 29, 2013 that it will resolve its nuclear program, but it has reneged on its pledges. "The breaking of promises makes it hard to believe the truth behind the North's claims that its basic goal is a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula," Ryoo said. He added that more recently the North seems to be pursuing a policy to simultaneously push forward economic construction while at the same time build up its nuclear force. The policymaker claimed such actions will further isolate the country from the international community. The minister in charge of formulating inter-Korean policies said that if the North decides to change its course and take firm steps to build trust, Seoul will, along with the international community, support the country's growth. "On the other hand, if the country resists change, there will be a limit to what assistance can be provided," he said. The official, meanwhile, made clear that Seoul does not seek the North's collapse and wants to create an "economic community" with Pyongyang that can lead to eventual unification.