| January
1 | - Kim Jong-un, in his New
Year’s Speech, repeats existing positions such as the
suspension of the ROK-U.S. joint military exercises while
expressing a strong will to hold inter-Korean dialogue in
comments such as “a great turn in inter-Korean relations,”
“top-level talks,” and “the resumption of stalled high-level
contact.”
|
| January 1 |
- The Unification Minister positively
evaluates the New Year’s Address of the North and reaffirms
the need for and the South’s will to have inter-Korean
talks, saying that the South wants to “hold inter-Korean
talks in the near future informally.”
|
| January 2 | - Regarding
the hacking of Sony Pictures, the U.S. issues an executive
order for sanctions on North Korea (designating 3
organizations including the General Political Bureau and 10
individuals who should be subject to the sanctions).
|
| January 4 | - The North’s Foreign Ministry
spokesperson, in a Q&A session with a KCNA reporter,
denounces the U.S.’s executive order for sanctions on North
Korea.
|
| January 5 | - The Campaign for Helping North Korea in
Direct Way, a civic organization in the South, scatters
anti-North Korea leaflets.
|
| January 6 | - The ROK
President urges the North to come out to the dialogue and
cooperation table at a cabinet meeting.
|
| January 6 | - The
Unification Ministry spokesperson, in a statement, calls on
the North to respond to the South’s proposal for dialogue if
it has the will to develop inter-Korean relations while
stressing the ROK government’s position of “holding
inter-Korean talks informally.”
|
| January 6 | - The Ministry
of Justice dismisses the claim for damages for restraining
the scattering of anti-North Korea leaflets, saying that
“Although this is tantamount to freedom of expression, one of the
basic rights of the people, the restraining of the
scattering is legitimate in a life-threatening situation due
to the North’s threats.”
|
| January 7 | - The
Inter-Korean Economic and Cultural Cooperation Foundation
consults a visit to the North (Gaeseong) regarding a joint
project of exhibiting national documentary heritage.
|
| January 7 | - The ROK government calls on the North
“to come out to the dialogue table for the substantial
development of inter-Korean relations instead of repeating
the arguments that do not help resume inter-Korean
dialogue.” (The ROK’s position on the statement by the
spokesperson for the National Defense Commission)
|
| January 7 |
- A spokesperson for the Policy Department of the National
Defense Commission, in a statement, demands that the U.S.
withdraw the sanctions on North Korea and stop hostile acts,
saying that the U.S.’s allegation that the North hacked Sony
Pictures and its issuance of an executive order for
sanctions on the North are hostile maneuvers against
Pyongyang.
|
| January 8 |
- The Foreign Affairs and Unification
Committee of the National Assembly adopts a “resolution to
urge the implementation of the South-North Korean agreement
on an end to mudslinging” which calls on the ROK government
to take measures against the civic organizations’ scattering
of anti-North Korea leaflets.
|
| January 9 | - North Korea
refuses to receive a “resolution calling for the unification
preparation based on public consensus and the resumption of
inter-Korean talks” from the ROK’s National Assembly citing
an “instruction from the superior authority.”
|
| January 10 |
- KCNA reports that Pyongyang delivered a message to the
U.S. that it would suspend a nuclear test if the U.S. stops
the ROK-U.S. joint military exercises this year (January
9).
|
| January 11 | - The ROK government emphasizes that as
the North Korean nuclear test was prohibited by the U.N.
Security Council, the North is required to comply with this
and this is not an issue connected to the ROK-US joint
military exercises.
|
| January
12 | - The ROK President, at the
New Year’s Press Conference, declares the will to build the
foundation for the development of inter-Korean relations and
peaceful unification on the occasion of the 70th anniversary
of national liberation.
|
| January 15 | - The ROK
government, in face-to-face talks with the civic
organization involved in scattering the anti-North Korea
leaflets, explains its position and asks the organization to
make a wise decision.
|
| January 18 | - Washington
(former officials and experts) and Pyongyang (Vice Foreign
Minister Ri Yong-ho, etc.) have contact from January 18 to
19 in Singapore.
|
| January
19 | - The Ministries involved in
foreign affairs and security issues present their annual
policy report (Topic: Unification Preparation), expressing
their plans to △ build the domestic infrastructure for
unification, △ develop inter-Korean relations, and △
cooperate with the international community at the same time,
thereby substantially preparing for unification and
developing inter-Korean relations.
- They announce 3
Strategies (“Unification Preparation” through △ public
participation, △ cooperation with North Korea, and △
collaboration with the international community) and 6 Key
Tasks (① expand a consensus on unification, ② foster future
leaders in an era of unification, ③ open up channels for the
livelihood of the people, the environment, and culture on
the occasion of 70thanniversaryofnationalliberation, ④
promote reciprocal economic cooperation between South and
North Korea, ⑤ make substantial progress in the North Korean
nuclear and human rights issues, and ⑥ expand the
international community’s participation in unification
preparation.)
|
| January 19 |
- The ROK President stresses a
substantial dialogue and cooperation for unification
preparation in the annual policy report by the Ministries
involved in foreign affairs and security issues.
|
| January 19 |
- Fighters for Free North Korea, a civic organization in
the South, conducts a surprise scattering of leaflets
denouncing the North Korean regime.
|
| January 20 | - The North
Korean government, political party, and organizations hold a
joint conference and adopt an appeal that includes the
“possibility of the resumption of high-level contacts and
talks for each sector” while arguing for an “end to
confrontation between the North and the South.”
- The
North sends a letter of appeal to five organizations such as
the Blue House, the Chairman of the National Assembly, the
Saenuri Party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, and
the Korean Red Cross (January 21).
|
| January 20 | - A
spokesperson for the DPRK Association for Human Rights
Studies, in a statement, claims that “All the human rights
resolutions forcibly adopted against North Korea on the
basis of false documents are invalid.”
|
| January 21 | - The
ROK government says that △ the North’s “letter of appeal”
cannot be seen as an official response to the South’s
proposal for dialogue and △ urges the North to stop its
unilateral and propaganda claims and respond to the South’s
proposal for dialogue as soon as possible.
|
| January 21 | - A
spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, in a Q&A session with a
KCNA reporter, threatens that if the ROK government does not
control the scattering of anti-North Korea leaflets, the
North will reject the South’s offer of dialogue while
criticizing the South Korean civic organization for
spreading them.
|
| January
22 | - North Korea’s Ambassador to
the U.N. sends a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon that the U.N. human rights resolutions against North
Korea are invalid.
|
| January
23 | - A spokesperson for the
Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland,
in a statement, argues for lifting the May 24 Measures for
the reunion of separated families.
|
| January 23 | - The ROK
government expresses regret that the North connected the
separated family issue, a humanitarian issue, to the lifting
of the May 24 Measures and again calls on the North to
respond to the South’s proposal for dialogue.
|
| January 25 |
- A spokesperson for the Policy Department of the National
Defense Commission, in a statement, threatens the South with
“stern punishment,” saying “Don’t misunderstand, distort,
and ridicule the sincerity and the will” of the proposals
presented by the North.
|
| January 25 | - The
Unification Ministry spokesperson, in a statement, expresses
regret that while not responding to the South’s proposal for
dialogue, the North distorted and denounced the South’s will
to develop inter-Korean relations in a statement by the
Policy Department of the National Defense Commission, and
the spokesperson urges the North to respond to the South’s
proposal for dialogue.
|
| January 28 | - The ROK, the
U.S., and Japan hold a meeting of chief delegates for the
Six-Party Talks and agree to seek the resumption of the
Six-Party Talks while leaving the door to dialogue related
to the nuclear issue open.
|
| January 29 | - Former
President Lee Myung-bak discloses details related to
inter-Korean relations such as closed contacts for a summit
meeting during his term in office in his memoirs.
|
| January 29 |
- The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland condemns the Minister of
Foreign Affairs by name regarding the remarks (North Korea’s
nuclear weapons are a cancerous tumor in the relations
between the South and the North).
|
| January 29 | - The ROK
government holds a meeting with the Inter-Korean Exchanges
and Cooperation Promotion Council and decides to support the
Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund for UNFPA’s Census project in
North Korea (USD 1.3 million) and the project for the
compilation of Gyeoremal-keunsajeon (Big Dictionary of the
Korean People’s Language) (KRW 3.22 billion).
|
