Seoul condemns Pyongyang for refusing to answer hotline calls, using its property

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se speaks during a press conference at the government complex in Seoul, Tuesday. Newsis

In rare move, unification minister criticizes North Korea's irresponsible attitude

By Jung Min-ho

Seoul on Tuesday condemned Pyongyang for refusing to answer regular inter-Korean liaison hotline calls over the past several days and using South Korean property without its consent, calling North Korea's behavior irresponsible.

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se's remarks come as the North remains unresponsive to inter-Korean communication channels for the fifth straight day without giving any reasons.

"The government expresses strong regret over its unilateral and irresponsible attitude. We sternly warn that North Korea is on the path to more serious trouble as it isolates itself [with such behavior]," Kwon said at the government complex in Seoul. "Moreover, North Korea has violated the property rights of our companies by using their equipment and facilities at the Kaesong Industrial Complex without their permission despite our government's requests and warnings."

He then said that the South Korean government would pursue all means necessary to hold North Korea accountable for its unlawful activities there, in cooperation with other countries.

Such strong and damning words are rarely expressed by the ministry, whose central role is promoting inter-Korean dialogue and exchanges for the aim of peaceful unification. The last time Seoul criticized Pyongyang with the ministry's statement to the regime was July 28, 2013, when then Minister Ryu Gil-jae called for North Korea to respect the agreement concerning the now-closed joint factory complex. Even then, the words were milder and less direct.

This suggests the perilous state of the inter-Korean relationship, which started to crumble in 2019 following Pyongyang's second fruitless summit with Washington in Hanoi.

The accusation against the regime of having violated South Korea's property rights was based on North Korea's media reports, which show South Korean buses operating in Pyongyang and Kaesong. The vehicles, manufactured and provided by Hyundai Motors, had been used to transport North Korean workers before the industrial complex was closed down in 2016.

A deal signed by the two Koreas over the joint project prohibits any party from nationalizing the property invested by the other. Yet it would be extremely difficult, if not entirely impossible, to receive an apology, let alone compensation, from the North.

Speaking to reporters after releasing the statement, Kwon acknowledged the limits to what the ministry can do, but he said he was thoroughly reviewing all possible scenarios.

In this photo released Tuesday by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un points his finger over what appears to be the location of Camp Humphreys, a U.S. Army garrison in Pyeongtaek, at a meeting with top military officials in Pyongyang, North Korea, the previous day. Yonhap

Just hours earlier, in yet another grim sign of the already tense inter-Korean relations, North Korea's state media reported that its leader Kim Jong-un called for expanding his country's "war deterrence capabilities" at a meeting with top military officials in Pyongyang.

Pointing his finger toward what appeared to be the location of Camp Humphreys, a U.S. military garrison in Pyeongtaek, on a map, Kim stressed the need to bolster the military with "increasing speed in a more practical and offensive" manner, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The broadcaster blamed South Korea for fueling tensions on the Korean Peninsula with joint military drills in recent months, justifying its weapons tests as necessary to "cope with the escalating moves of the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppet traitors to unleash a war of aggression."

Over the past two years, North Korea has carried out various military activities, testing what it has claimed to be nuclear-capable weapons including long-range missiles and underwater drones.

To respond to the North's evolving threats, South Korea's military said it will hold the first session of a senior-level trilateral defense dialogue in three years in Washington on Friday.