A thaw in inter-Korean relations will only come when North Korea reaches out to South Korea with a genuine willingness to account for its acts of provocation, Seoul's point man on Pyongyang said Monday.
In his New Year's speech -- which came as President Lee Myung-bak urged the North to seize on a chance for dialogue -- Unification Minister Hyun In-taek also suggested that the South will expand its efforts to pressure its impoverished neighbor from the bottom up.
"Conniving over North Korea's provocation would be a step backward in the advancement of history," Hyun told a gathering of hundreds of ministry officials. "New sprouts (of reconciliation) may start to grow when (Pyongyang) moves with sincerity and responsibility. Only then will the future of cooperation and dialogue open up."
The series of comments by Lee and Hyun appeared to suggest that Pyongyang should assume responsibility for last year's deadly developments on the peninsula before the divided countries can resume talks that could lead to much-needed aid for the North.
In November, the North bombarded a South Korean border island, killing four people. It is also held responsible for the deadly March sinking of a South Korean warship, a charge Pyongyang denies.
"The eyes of the Unification Ministry should be set toward the 24 million North Korean people, and our policies should contribute to their survival, human rights and happiness," Hyun said.
The North violently reacts to any outside suggestions that its people suffer from chronic hunger and human rights abuses. The Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean exchanges and also looks after defectors from the communist state, has made it a goal this year to focus on the lives of North Korean people.
In its joint New Year's press editorial, the North warned of a "nuclear holocaust" should tension on the peninsula escalate, calling for an effort to defuse it through cross-border talks.
The call came as the two Koreas converged on the need to resume six-party denuclearization-for-aid talks that also include the U.S., Russia, Japan and China. The talks were last held in 2008.
South and North Korea remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.