| February 1 | - The North’s
Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a Q&A session with
reporters, blames the U.S.’s assertion that the door to
dialogue has been left open for the North, saying that
Washington rejected its offer of Sung Kim’s visit to
Pyongyang.
|
| February 4 |
- The Policy Department of the
National Defense Commission, in a statement, strongly
criticizes the U.S.’s sanctions against the North and
declares that it has no will to have talks with the U.S.,
saying that “The North does not need to sit face-to-face
with the U.S. and has no will to keep company with it.”
|
| February 4 | - The ROK government calls on the North to
come out to the dialogue table if it has anything to say
while pointing out the injustice of the North demanding
preconditions to the dialogue (in a briefing by the
Unification Ministry spokesperson).
|
| February 4 | - A
spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, in a Q&A session with
reporters, demands preconditions to the dialogue such as
“The South should show its will to improve relations by
taking reliable measures.”
|
| February 4 | - Regarding
Shin Dong-hyuk’s admission of “false testimony,” North Korea
sends a letter that demands the invalidation of the U.N.
human rights resolutions against North Korea (from North
Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong to the President of the
U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Secretary General).
|
| February 4 | - The North’s Foreign Ministry
spokesperson, in a Q&A session with reporters, claims
that the testimonies of North Korean defectors should be
verified, criticizing U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human
Rights in North Korea Darusman’s remarks (“It is possible to
release political prisoners only if the regime changes in
North Korea.” February 2).
|
| February 5 | - A
spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, in a statement, severely
denounces Former President Lee’s memoirs which disclosed
behind-the-scenes stories of inter-Korean relations.
|
| February 5 | - Seoul and Beijing hold a meeting of
chief delegates for the Six-Party Talks and discuss the
North Korean nuclear issue.
|
| February 5 | - The ROK
President stresses the importance of maintaining military
readiness to curb the North’s provocations at a defense
meeting of top military officials.
|
| February 6 | - A
spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, in a Q&A session with a
KCNA reporter, criticizes the ROK President’s remarks at the
defense meeting, saying “If President Park has a will to
have dialogue, she needs to mind her speech and
action.”
|
| February 7 |
- North Korea test-fires an anti-ship
rocket.
|
| February 8 |
- North Korea fires five short-range
missiles into the East Sea.
|
| February 11 | - The
Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland,
in a special statement, threatens the South with remarks
such as “shameful destruction” and “the target of
retaliatory strikes,” saying that “The South Korean
authorities are toeing the U.S.’s scheme to crush the North
to death and creating a risky political situation.”
|
| February 11 | - North Korea refuses to receive a message
from the Korean Red Cross that it would support powdered
milk at the humanitarian level.
|
| February 11 | - The ROK
government expresses regret over the North’s threatening
remarks, declares that it will take a stern response to any
provocations, and calls on the North to respond to the
South’s proposal for dialogue.
|
| February 12 | - A
spokesperson for the DPRK Measure Council for Human Rights
in South Korea, in a statement, demands the abolition of the
National Security Law, denouncing it as a “notoriously
unjust law to annihilate human rights.”
|
| February 16 | - The
ROK President emphasizes that South Korea should make steady
efforts for unification preparation while urging the North
to come out to the path toward reform and dialogue at an
intensive discussion by the group of chairpersons for the
Presidential Preparatory Committee for Unification.
|
| February 17 | - The ROK government calls on the North to
respond to its proposal for dialogue and show a responsible
attitude to overcome national division on the occasion of
the 23rd anniversary of the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement
(February 19) (in a briefing by the Unification Ministry
spokesperson).
|
| February
19 | - The Unification Minister
stresses the dialogue and practice to resolve the separated
families, POWs, and abductees issues in a ceremony in which
separated families pay their respects to their ancestors in
North Korea.
|
| February
19 | - The North’s Foreign
Ministry spokesperson, in a statement, threatens the South
with a “super-hardline response,” criticizing it for holding
the Debate on Human Rights in North Korea in Washington on
January 17th.
|
| February
23 | - The ROK government
repatriates two North Korean citizens rescued in the East
Sea (February 12) via Panmunjeom.
|
| February 23 | - The ROK
government selects the “establishment of channels for
substantial cooperation between South and North Korea” as
one of its 24 key reform tasks in the third year in
office.
|
| February 24 |
- North Korea unilaterally notifies
the South of an increase in the minimum wages for North
Korean workers in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC)
(raise by 5.18% from USD 70.35 to USD 74).
|
| February 24 | - The
ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command announces that the Key
Resolve and Foal Eagle (KR/FE) exercises will begin on March
2nd and notifies the North.
|
| February 24 | - The ROK and
Russia hold a meeting of chief delegates for the Six-Party
Talks and discuss the North Korean nuclear issue.
|
| February 26 |
- The ROK government expresses its position that it is
impossible to accept the North’s demands regarding the
Gaeseong Industrial Complex and calls for stopping its
unilateral behavior. The South tries to send a message
proposing the 6th meeting of the South-North Joint
Management Committee for the Gaeseong Industrial Complex
(GIC) in the name of the chairman of the committee but the
North refuses to receive it (in a briefing by the
Unification Ministry spokesperson on February 27).
|
| February 26 | - In the joint declaration adopted at the
summit meeting between the leaders of South Korea and the
Czech Republic, both leaders “△ express concerns about the
North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile program, △ urge
the North to return to the Six-Party Talks, △ support the
Trust-building Process on the Korean Peninsula, and △ make
it clear that they will make efforts to improve the human
rights and humanitarian situation in North Korea.”
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