North Korea Desires Direct Talks With South Korea

A view of central Pyongyang September 21, 2008.
(Stringer/Reuters)

North Korea Changes Course, Seeks Talks With South
-- Yahoo News/Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea proposed on Friday holding defense talks with South Korea in its first offer for inter-Korean dialogue since a new president took office in Seoul in February pledging to take a tough line with Pyongyang.

The apparent softening of the communist state's stance with its capitalist neighbor comes as the North has raised regional tension by saying this month it will step away from a disarmament deal and restore its plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium.

The South's Unification ministry said in a statement the North "has proposed holding working-level military talks on September 30" and the South is considering the proposal.

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My Comment: North Korea .... realizing that President Bush and his administration are not going to change any foreign policy directions until the new administration .... are abandoning talks with the U.S. for more direct talks with their Southern neighbors. But the South Korean Government is deeply suspicious of the North's motives .... and will not accommodate their needs.

I sense the North are worried .... they are so isolated from the rest of the world that they cannot help but feel that they are being besieged .... and left behind.