Earlier, an official in charge of policy planning of the "Ministry of Unification" told a "seminar" that the ministry "respected the agreements between the south and the north including the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration" and "made efforts to develop the inter-Korean relations," adding that "it was due to the north that the south-north relations could not advance."

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

The puppet authorities' above-said utterances are as shameless an act as that of a guilty party filing the suit first because they are intended to shift the blame for the collapse of the inter-Korean relations onto the DPRK.

The conservative group did not expect any progress in the inter-Korean relations but foolishly waited for any "change" to take place in the DPRK, sticking to the "waiting strategy" after suspending all forms of dialogue and cooperation, the commentary notes, and goes on:

Much upset by various circles' mounting criticism of its undisguised acts of bringing the inter-Korean relations to a collapse and increasing the danger of a war of aggression against the north on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the publication of the June 15 joint declaration, the Lee Myung Bak group let loose such naive and disgusting remarks to justify its anti-reunification "policy toward the north" and calm down the anger of the public.

This clumsy artifice, however, can never cut ice with anyone.

The Korean nation will surely force the group of traitors to pay a dear price for such anti-reunification acts as going mad with its moves to escalate the confrontation, laying the blame for pushing the inter-Korean relations to a collapse at the other's door.