TEMPO.CO, Seoul - South Korea has demanded North Korea demonstrate sincerity in its proposal for talks, such as ending its nuclear program as previously promised. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se coldly brushed off North Korea’s offer for a dialogue regarding its nuclear weapons program.

Yun also said there were no indications from North Korea to discuss the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons involving six nations including China, North and South Korea, the United States, Russia and Japan.

Yun released his statement following North Korean envoy Choe Ryong-hae’s visit to China last Friday. He arrived to deliver a letter from leader Kim Jong-un for China’s President, Xi Jinping.

The Chinese media reported that during the meeting with Ryong-hae, Jinping urged Pyongyang to renegotiate. These six states ceased discussions at the end of 2008 when North Korea decided to remove itself from any discussion. This year, Pyongyang announced that its nuclear weapons program could no longer be negotiated after conducting the third nuclear tests.

Yesterday, the South Korean Unification Ministry also rejected North Korea’s proposal to commemorate since theJune 15 North-South Joint Declaration together. Instead, the South demanded the North accept the offer it made on May 14 regarding talks about the joint industrial area in Kaesong.

"If the North genuinely wants dialogue, the first step should be responding to our repeated call for working-level governmental talks on the Kaesong industrial complex," the spokesman said.

YONHAP | KOREA TIMES | NATALIA SANTI