SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea on Wednesday renewed a call for North Korea to discuss how to implement deals reached at a rare summit between the two countries' leaders one year ago.
The deals, including a agreement to improve road and rail services in the North, were thrown into limbo after South Korea's conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in February with a pledge to get tough on the North.
In protest, the communist country suspended reconciliation talks that had prospered under a decade of liberal rule in Seoul. Civilian exchanges continue, but the North has threatened to end them as well.
Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, attended a rare summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on Oct. 2-4, 2007.
North Korea has accused the South of since ignoring deals reached at the summit.
"Our government has never denied the two summit declarations," Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong said in a speech in Seoul on Wednesday. "The government urges Pyongyang to come forward for dialogue and expects that it will do so."
Pyongyang warned Seoul last week that it might cut any remaining ties between the neighbours if South Korea continues with its policy of "reckless confrontation."
"The North-South relations cannot be normalized as long as" the South tramples upon the summit deals, the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim denied that Seoul has taken a hard-line stance toward the North, calling it "preconceived or biased."
The North has stepped up its accusations against Seoul and its new president through state-run media on a near daily basis, branding him a "traitor," "pro-American sycophant" and "despicable human scum."
On Tuesday, North Korea blocked two ruling party legislators from visiting the country to attend the inauguration of a joint venture factory, while giving a green light to another member of the Grand National Party.
One of the barred lawmakers was Chung Doo-un, who has served as one of Lee's closest aides since his days as Seoul mayor in 2002-2006. Local media have dubbed Chung as Lee's "brain."
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon said Wednesday that the North informed Seoul it would be difficult to receive some lawmakers because of "internal circumstances." Kim did not name the lawmakers.
The divided states fought the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula technically still at war. Relations had warmed significantly since the 2000 summit before freezing again this year.
