S.Korea rejects DPRK's offer to hold meeting of parties, organizations

SEOUL - South Korea on Tuesday rejected the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s proposal to hold a meeting of political parties and social organizations from the two Koreas around August 15 marking the 71st anniversary of the Korean peninsula's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.

Seoul's unification ministry said in a statement that the DPRK's offer was its typical propaganda ploy against South Korea, noting that Pyongyang's dialogue offer lacked sincerity as it came amid the ongoing nuclear test and missile launches.

The statement came a day after the DPRK proposed to South Korea holding a grand meeting of the nations for unification and unity, attended by political parties, social organizations and individual figures, before or after August 15. Pyongyang offered to hold a working-level contact in July to discuss the issue.

The statement said that if Pyongyang has any sincerity in pursuing peaceful unification on the peninsula and improving inter-Korean relations, it should show its commitment to denuclearization with actions.

Following its historic Worker's Party of Korea (WPK) congress in early May, the DPRK has proposed holding a dialogue with South Korea to ease tensions on the peninsula.

Seoul has rejected the dialogue overtures, urging Pyongyang to show its will to denuclearize first before any dialogue is to be held between the two sides.

The DPRK conducted its fourth nuclear test in January, followed in February by a launch of a long-range rocket, which was condemned as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology.

On June 23, Pyongyang test-fired its surface-to-surface strategic ballistic missile Hwasong-10, called in South Korea Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile, and said it was successful as the missile flew about 400 km after being propelled as high as 1,413.6 km.