N. Korea Rejects Seoul's Reunification Plans, Says Unwilling To Hold Talks With S. Korea

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2019) North Korea is unwilling to sit at the negotiating table with South Korea any more, the spokesperson of the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country said on Friday in the wake of Seoul's pledge to reunify with Pyongyang by 2045.

"The South Korean authorities want to benefit from future North Korea-US talks, but they have their heads in the clouds if they think that the next round of talks will naturally come after their joint military drills with the United States just like seasons change.

They are better to give up these reckless ideas soon ... [North Korea] has nothing to talk about with the South Korean authorities," the spokesperson said, as quoted by North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency.

The comment comes a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced the so-called one Korea strategy, envisaging the reunification by 2045.

Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have worsened recently in the wake of US-South Korea joint drills and North Korea's repeated tests of what Seoul called short-range ballistic missiles.