North Korea says it will admit delegations from South - CNN.com
We can only hope that this is an opening for further cooperations.
We can only hope that this is an opening for further cooperations.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
'We declare solemnly and confidently that the foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet group in South Korea, should not expect any change from us,' state media said in a statement attributed to the National Defense Commission.
It also said that the country would never deal with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who has linked aid to denuclearization. Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program - involving the two Koreas, China, the US, Russia and Japan - are currently stalled. The isolated east Asian state has seen two days of mourning for Kim Jong-il, who had ruled North Korea since 1994. He died Dec 17 of a heart attack, state media said.
His son, Kim Jong-un, has since been named 'supreme leader of the party, state and army'. Little is known about Kim Jong-un, except that he is in his late twenties and has had some schooling in Switzerland.
Don't expect us to change, North Korea tells world
North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission said that the country would never deal with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, a conservative who stopped a no-strings-attached aid policy toward the North in 2008. The stern message also said North Korea was uniting around Kim Jong Un, referring to him for the first time with the title Great Leader -- previously used for his father -- in a clear message of continuity. It was the latest incremental step in a burgeoning personality cult around the son following the Dec. 17 death of Kim Jong Il. The younger Kim on Thursday was pronounced Supreme Leader of the ruling party, military and people at a massive public gathering on the final day of official mourning for his father.
The top levels of government appear to have rallied around Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s, in the wake of his father's death. Still, given his inexperience and age, there are questions outside North Korea about his leadership of a nation engaged in delicate negotiations over its nuclear program and grappling with decades of economic hardship and chronic food shortages. "We declare solemnly and confidently that the foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet group in South Korea, should not expect any change from us," the National Defense Commission said. "We will never deal with the traitor group of Lee Myung-bak."
In a bellicose voice, a female news anchor for state TV read the National Defense Commission statement, saying the "evil misdeeds" of the Lee administration reached a peak when it prevented South Koreans from visiting North Korea to pay respects to Kim Jong Il, except for two delegations led by a former first lady and a business leader, both of whose husbands had ties to North Korea. North Korea had said foreign official delegations would not be allowed at the funeral but that it would welcome any South Koreans who wanted to travel to pay respects to Kim. "Even though we lost Kim Jong Il, we have the dear respected Kim Jong Un," Kang Chol Bok, a 28-year-old officer of the Korean People's Internal Security Forces, told The Associated Press. "We will turn our profound sorrow into strength and courage."
The North's statement is a warning for Seoul not to take the new leadership lightly, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University. "It is also raising the stakes in case the South wants better relations so Pyongyang can extract greater concessions" during any later talks, Koh said. He added that it's "too early to say the North is dashing hopes for reforms." While blasting the South's leader, the North also offered a bit of hope for improved ties with the South, saying it "will continue to push hard toward the path of improved relations." But it added that any better ties won't be "based on the deceitful ploys South Korea is employing by mixing 'toughness' and 'flexibility."' Seoul has signaled a change in its approach toward Pyongyang in recent months, saying it will be more flexible in dealing with the North.
Read more: North Korea Says It Will Never Engage In Discussion With South Korea | Fox News