North Korea’s Kim Promises to Seek Better Ties With South Korea

“DPRK-South Korea relations and the unification issue should be solved with the very strength of people, according to Korean ethnic nationalism ideology, befitting the (Korean) people’s independent will and demand”, said Kim.

“If aggressors and provocateurs touch us even slightly, we will not hesitate to respond with a merciless sacred war for justice and national reunification”, he said.

On Thursday, North Korea’s state television showed still photos of Kim Jong Un at the wake of Kim Yang Gon. Kim Yang-gon visited Seoul as part of a consolatory delegation upon the death of former president Kim Dae-jung in 2009, and he attended the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games in October 2014 along with two other high-ranking North Korean officials. “Sadly, Comrade Kim Yang-gon died in an automobile accident at 6:15 pm on December 29 of Juche Year 104 [2015]”.

The death earlier this week of Pyongyang’s point man on ties with Seoul had raised some speculation that Mr. Kim might signal a more hawkish inter-Korean policy, but he said he wanted to restart stalled talks.

Analysts say Kim likely wants a push for tangible diplomatic and economic achievements before a convention of the ruling Workers’ Party in May, the party’s first since 1980, when he is widely expected to announce major state polices and shake up the country’s political elite to further consolidate his power.

During those meetings, North Korean representatives insisted on discussing only the resumption of the Kumgangsan tourist venture, a special region in North Korea for South Korean tourists, which has been a cash cow for the regime.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to “actively” work to improve ties with South Korea, days after the death of his top adviser on cross-border talks. That crisis was alleviated in August; since then, the two sides, which have technically been at war since the 1950s, have held inconclusive talks.

After the sudden death of Kim Jong-Il in 2011, Kim Yang-Gon was known as a key confidante to his son, the young leader Kim Jong-Un, advising him on inter-Korean and global relations.

“North Korea has a long track record of suspicious deaths around high-level officials”, said North Korea expert Andrei Lankov.

Unlike previous year, the North Korean leader did not remark on the regime’s nuclear ambitions. “South Korea should honor the spirit of the inter-Korean agreement in August”.