The proposal for jointly holding the pro-reunification events to be participated in by compatriots from the north, south and overseas has won strong support and response from Koreans as it would mark an important occasion in ending the five year-old stalemate in the inter-Korean dialogue.

However, the south Korean authorities refused the proposal, citing lame excuses after delaying their reply to it for several days.

In a statement of the spokesman for the "Ministry of Unification" and at a press conference they unhesitatingly talked rubbish that "the north's proposal is doubtful in its sincerity", "it aims at fomenting disputes among southerners" and "it seeks politically-motivated intention".

Following in their footsteps, the ultra-right confrontation elements have termed the proposal "a double-dealing offensive for dialogue" and "a preposterous one", saying the inter-governmental dialogue should precede a non-governmental event.

This is nothing but a brazen-faced challenge to the internal and external public opinion calling for putting an end to the worst confrontation between compatriots, defusing tension and improving inter-Korean relations. It is also a blatant provocation against the DPRK which sets store by the great cause of the nation.

The nearer the historic anniversary of the June 15 joint declaration comes, the more ardently Koreans are longing for the precious era when a broad way of inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation was paved over a barrier of distrust and confrontation which had lasted for more than half a century.

Moreover, on-going confrontation is too painful for Koreans to bear as they bitterly experienced the difference between the June 15 era and the one of confrontation during the period of Lee Myung Bak's rule when the inter-Korean relations plunged into a catastrophe.

In the strict sense of words, the proposal of the DPRK is a product of its broad magnanimity to attach importance to the nation's concord and iron out the discord between compatriots at any cost.

The sophism of the south Korean regime and its disallowance of the joint events can not be construed otherwise than its attempt to go back to the days before the June 15 era, the days of the Lee Myung Bak's regime ill-famed for escalated confrontation, when the nation had to suffer turns and twists to sign a single agreement and achieve a single round of exchange and cooperation.

It is not fortuitous that the religious organizations and progressive media in south Korea commented that "the proposal might be a good occasion for ending the inter-Korean showdown and opening up a phase of dialogue" and "the north's suggestion of selecting Kaesong or Mt. Kumgang resort as a venue of the events has a great significance as it means providing a momentum of reconciliation and cooperation through the normalization of operation in the Kaesong Industrial Zone and the resumption of tour of Mt. Kumgang."

If the events are held as a process of linking kinship between compatriots, the issues including the one of normalizing the operation in the Kaesong Industrial Zone will be settled.

The proposal of the DPRK is to save the joint declaration. Refusal to it is, therefore, tantamount to negating the declaration.

The south Korean regime would be well advised to face up to the reality.