Peace overture fails: North Korea rejects South Korea’s ‘audacious initiative’ offer

SEOUL: Kim Yo Jong, a senior Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) official, rejected what Yoon Suk-yeol, president of Republic of Korea (ROK), described as an “audacious initiative” on Thursday, according to Korean Central News Agency.

Kim, the vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, said the plan was “absurd” and the DPRK would never use nuclear weapons to barter over “economic cooperation.”

“I’m not sure that he knows his assumption ‘if the north took a measure for denuclearization’ was a wrong prerequisite,” she said.

South Korea offers North Korea economic rewards for denuclearization

In his celebratory address for the ROK’s 77th National Liberation Day on Monday, Yoon proposed an “audacious initiative” to Pyongyang that included large-scale food supplies and social infrastructure support, contingent on the DPRK halting its nuclear development and pursuing practical denuclearization.

Yoon also called for improvements to a “ROK grain-DPRK mineral resources” barter project prior to agreement on a nuclear deal with the DPRK.

In his speech to mark the 77th Liberation Day on Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol offered Pyongyang his “audacious initiative” to support reviving its crippling economy once it takes steps toward denuclearization.

“Denuclearization of North Korea is essential for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia and around the world,” Yoon said.

Avoiding Washington’s preferred term, “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Yoon again reiterated that Pyongyang is the main actor who should be responsible for the denuclearization of the peninsula.

During his speech on the date marking South Korea’s liberation from Japanese occupation, Yoon offered few details of his “audacious” economic offer for the North if it shows substantive progress toward denuclearization. He first raised the idea in his inauguration address back in May.