Rodong Sinmun Monday observes in a signed commentary in this regard:

This indicates that the south Korean authorities are seeking to drop a check-bar on the process for improving the inter-Korean relations at any cost under the pretext of the nuclear issue of the north quite contrary to the aspiration of the compatriots and the trend of the times.

It is the height of sarcasm for the south Korean rulers to talk this or that about the nuclear issue of the north and its nuclear deterrent without any proper understanding of the essence of the issue and the characteristics of the deterrent.

Their assertion that the improvement of the inter-Korean relations is delayed due to the nuclear deterrent of the north is prompted by the prejudice caused by their behavior of toeing the line of foreign forces and it is a revelation of their inveterate conception of confrontation with fellow countrymen.

The inter-Korean relations have already suffered a lot due to the unreasonable ruckus kicked up by the south Korean authorities to derail the cooperation over the nuclear issue.

The above-said plan that links the nuclear issue with the inter-Korean relations is nothing but an anti-reunification "bill" aimed at scuttling all the projects for inter-Korean cooperation and exchange over the nuclear issue, to all intents and purposes.

They had better plainly call the plan "a plan for suspending everything" instead of advertising it as "a development plan."

The improvement of the inter-Korean relations is required by the times and an urgent task for national unity and reunification. It is an unpardonable act of treachery to bedevil the inter-Korean relations, groundlessly raising a hue and cry over the nuclear issue in disregard of the hard fact.

The south Korean authorities would be well advised to behave themselves, mindful that if they persist in their moves to hamstring the efforts to warm the inter-Korean relations, obsessed with the wild ambition to pressurize the north "to dismantle its nukes first," they will have to bitterly regret for their wrong.