Many families wait for reunions to meet relatives separated by war

The president of the Republic of Korea, Park Geun-hye, said on Monday that she is willing to hold a summit with Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"If necessary, to remove pains of the division (of the Korean Peninsula) and open a door for unification, I am willing to meet with anyone. The inter-Korean summit - I can do that if it helps," Park said in her third-year New Year's news conference at the presidential office. She took office in February 2013.

Park said there are no preconditions for an inter-Kore-an summit, but she called on the DPRK to have an "open-minded and sincere" attitude toward resolving issues through dialogue.

Without coming to a settlement on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the countries cannot talk about peaceful reunification, Park said, adding that the nuclear issue should be resolved through inter-Korean or multilateral dialogue.

The news conference came in response to Kim's New Year's address when he said that there is "no reason not to hold the highest level talks" with Seoul if the right atmosphere and environment are formed.

Expectations remain low that a summit can be held in the near future, as Park indicated the DPRK's sincerity toward an inter-Korean dialogue as a "veiled" precondition. Kim also commented on the need for a "mood" for the summit.

Park urged the DPRK to come to the table "without any hesitation", saying that all of the issues, including those that the DPRK wants to resolve, can only be solved when the neighbors sit down face-to-face.

May 24 sanctions

Pyongyang has demanded the lifting of sanctions imposed by Seoul in 2010 when the ROK navy corvette Cheonan sank in waters near the disputed western sea border. The sanctions banned all inter-Korean exchanges except for the joint factory park in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong.

Park failed to mention any new incentives that could induce Pyongyang to accept Seoul's dialogue offer. The DPRK has called for the ROK government to prevent civic groups from scattering anti-DPRK leaflets via balloons across the border, but Seoul has maintained its "basic position" that the authorities cannot intervene in an activity that constitutes "freedom of expression".

The DPRK's official Kore-an Central News Agency said on Saturday that it had delivered a message to the United States, which proposed that it would take a "responsive" step such as temporarily suspending nuclear tests in return for a halt of Washington's annual military exercises with Seoul this year.

The ROK military reportedly maintained its position that it will conduct a series of drills with the US as scheduled. The "Key Resolve" command post exercise and the "Foal Eagle" field-training drill are scheduled for February to April. The "Ulchi Freedom Guardian" computer-assisted simulation exercise tends to kick off in mid-August.

Reunion event

Park offered again to hold a reunion event around the Lunar New Year for families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War. She asked the DPRK to be open-minded on the issue, saying time is running out for the older members of separated families.

About 22,000 Koreans met their long-lost relatives through 19 rounds of reunions from 1985 to 2014, but more than 70,000 ROK residents have been on the waiting list since 1988.All applicants are likely to die with in 20 years.

The countries held senior-level contacts in February that resulted in a reunion. In October, the DPRK agreed to a second high-level contact, but it failed as ROK civic groups dropped anti-DPRK leaflets despite Pyongyang's strong opposition.

Xinhua - Reuters - AFP