DPRK high-level visit signals readiness for dialogue

PYONGYANG - A delegation of high-ranking officials of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including its second-in-command Hwang Pyong So, made a surprise trip to the Republic of Korea (ROK) for the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games Saturday.

The visit, which also includes a meeting with South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae, coincides with the seventh anniversary of the signing of the October 4 Declaration, a historic document on the advancement of ties between the two neighboring countries.

Hwang Pyong So, vice chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission and director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army arrives at Incheon airport in Republic of Korea, October 4, 2014. Hwang led a delegation of three top-ranking officials, including Choe Ryong Hae and Kim Yang Gon, secretaries of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, to attend the closing ceremony of Asian Games. [Photo/CFP]

The DPRK's decision to send high-level officials to ROK on this significant day is widely considered a signal to the rest of the world that Pyongyang has put priority on inter-Korean ties and is willing to strive for mending the relations.

WIDE COVERAGE OF ASIAD IN PYONGYANG

Winning 11 gold medals as of 18:30 Seoul time, the DPRK athletes without any doubt have done a brilliant job in the Games, especially in weight-lifting competitions, where world records were once and again being broken.

The whole country is immersed in joy and excitement for the achievements made by their players. In the DPRK, recorded videos of football, weight-lifting and judo competitions, where DPRK players had a good performance, are constantly being played on the Korean Central Television.

A student from the DPRK's Kim Chaek University of Technology told the official KCNA news agency that the Asian Games has become the most heated topic among university students during the 15-day sports event.

FIRST HIGH-LEVEL CONTACT AT ASIAD

South Korea has hosted the Asian Games three times altogether in history, with the other two respectively in 2002 in Busan and 1986 in Seoul. The DPRK took part in the games held in South Korea twice except for 1986.

In 2002, the DPRK dispatched a massive delegation composed of a 300-member cheering squad and 184 athletes to Busan and won nine gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze, ranking ninth in the medal table. But no high-level officials paid visits to South Korea during the games.

In the Guangzhou Asiad in 2010 and Doha Asiad in 2006, no senior-level contact was ever held between South Korea and the DPRK.

Analysts say the rare visit of high-ranking DPRK officials to the Asian Games means a significant and concrete step forward for improving north-south relations, despite Pyongyang's recent criticisms of South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her DPRK-related policies.

DPRK high-level officals to attend Asiad closing ceremony

During the past few weeks, Pyongyang has constantly criticized Park for her DPRK-related remarks at the 69th UN General Assembly and her policies toward the DPRK during the 15-day sports competitions.

On Sept. 20, a spokesperson for the DPRK delegation to the Asian Games criticized Seoul for denying government support for the dispersion of anti-DPRK leaflets, which landed in DPRK via balloons.

The spokesperson said that efforts to foster a favorable atmosphere for improving ties must be made above all else, in order to put an end to the division and protect the security of the nation.

On Sept. 26, the Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Korea slammed Park's first keynote speech at the UN, saying her remarks posed "a blatant challenge to the dignity and social system of the DPRK and an extremely dangerous provocation driving the bedeviled north-south relations into a total catastrophe."

In her speech, Park called on the international community to tear down the world's last remaining wall separating the north and south of Korea and called for worldwide attention to addressing human rights issue in the DPRK, which the DPRK said has never existed.

In the meantime, the DPRK suggested carrying out the historic June 15 Joint Declaration and October 4 Declaration and urged Seoul to respond to the proposal of achieving reunification through the founding of the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo, a loose form of federation, an offer first brought up by Kim Il Sung at the sixth congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1980.

The DPRK and South Korea agreed in the two declarations on a series of issues of common interests, including joint efforts to work for mutual respect and trust, easing of military tensions, arrangement for reunions of separated families and increase of cooperation in various areas.

The Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo, which enables both sides to exercise regional autonomy and different ideologies, offers the "most realistic way to reunify the country peacefully and fairly in line with the will, wishes and interests of the whole nation," according to a statement released by the spokesman for the Disarmament and Peace Institute of the DPRK Foreign Ministry Wednesday.

PEACE OFFERING BEHIND UNEXPECTED VISIT

Although Pyongyang kept slamming the Park administration for "confrontational policies" toward the DPRK, the recent statements released to Seoul are cautiously-worded without the use of very harsh rhetoric or threat of military attacks, possibly leaving room for repair of relations.

On Thursday, the DPRK ambassador to the UN So Se Pyong said the DPRK is not planning a nuclear or missile test and is ready for a new round of six-party talks, sending a message that the DPRK may resume the talks under certain circumstances.

In the interview, So also stressed that the DPRK developed nuclear programs only to "protect itself" from attacks of the United States as a self-defense measure.

So's remarks echoed the DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong's speech at the United Nations.

On Sept. 27, Ri Su Yong emphasized at the UN that the DPRK's nuclear program is not a bargaining chip for an exchange of something else, but an "inevitable" counter measure to deal with the U.S. hostile policy.

Also on Saturday, the DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman again lashed out at the U.S. anti-DPRK campaign, accusing the United States of using human rights record and nuclear issue as a pretext to smash down the DPRK's social system.

In the statement, Pyongyang expressed fears that the United States would "swallow up" the country once it has chosen to disarm itself and remove the nuclear program.

"The discussion of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula will be meaningless as the U.S. is set to bring down the DPRK's state system at any cost," said the spokesman, apparently revealing Pyongyang's worries that without the self-claimed "treasured sword" -- the nuclear weapons, the country would find it impossible to defend itself from any external interference or attacks.

The DPRK senior officials' visit to Incheon, as analysts see, has demonstrated that Pyongyang is open to dialogue and will hopefully open a new page for easing tensions between the north and the south.

Experts also believe the visit itself is exactly the DPRK's action to implement the October 4 Declaration, as Pyongyang has consistently claim the concluded documents are the starting points and a cornerstone for improving inter-Korean ties.

However, for Seoul's part, Chongwadae's DPRK policies may also need a bit of adjustment and compromise to clear away obstacles to the development of the relationship and beyond.