North Korea has responded to South Korea’s assertion that the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex should be dealt with before there is any discussion of reopening tours to Mt. Geumgang by deferring inter-Korean talks on both Mt. Geumgang and separated family reunions.

South Korea had previously accepted the idea of talks on separated families, which was made by North Korea on July 10th, the day of the most recent inter-Korean meeting at Kaesong, but deferred on Mt. Geumgang. North Korea had put forward the idea of meetings on the 17th and 19th to discuss reunions of separated families and reopening Mt. Geumgang respectively, but always seemed set on explicitly linking the two.

Speaking on the morning of the 11th, Minister Ryoo commented, “Because the two sides are now discussing the reopening of the Kaesong Complex, I sent a reply [to the North] to the effect of ‘wouldn’t it be best to make progress on that problem first? If so, wouldn’t we naturally find the way to solve the Mt. Geumgang issue?’”

However, yesterday evening North Korea rejected dialogue on both Mt. Geumgang and separated family reunions. According to a Ministry of Unification statement, “North Korea deferred both the meetings in a communication at around 6PM [on Thursday].”

“On the reason for the deferral, the North informed us that, as per our suggestion from yesterday, they would focus on resolving the Kaesong Complex issue,” the statement added. The Ministry of Unification nevertheless urged North Korea to engage in dialogue on separated families, calling it a “purely humanitarian” issue.