SEOUL (AFP) — North Korea on Sunday rejected South Korea's appeal for reconciliation talks, with the two countries locked in a bitter war of words over the shooting of a Seoul tourist in the communist country.
Despite the killing last Friday new South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak went ahead with a public offer of negotiations with the North, extending an olive branch to ease tensions across one of the world's most dangerous borders.
But Pyongyang, which has blamed Seoul for the shooting, said the talks proposal "does not deserve even the slightest notice" and called Lee a "traitor" who was responsible for their strained relations.
The tourist who died, a 53-year-old housewife on a visit to the South-funded Mount Kumgang resort, was shot after allegedly wandering into a restricted military area before dawn on Friday.
The North has refused to let South Korean government officials conduct an investigation at the scene.
Lee knew about the killing but decided to make a speech in parliament anyway, proposing negotiations that the North's state Rodong Sinmun paper rejected on Sunday.
"There is nothing new," the paper said, denouncing Lee's proposal as an "intolerable insult" to those hoping for reconciliation.
"With deceptive words Lee Myung-Bak is trying to avoid responsibility for straining relations between North and South Korea," it said. "That's a miscalculation."
Ties between the neighbours worsened after the conservative Lee took office in February promising a tougher line on Pyongyang. He softened his stance with the proposal for talks on implementing summit deals reached by his liberal predecessors with the North.
The North has suspended all government-to-government dialogue since he came to power.
South Korea said Sunday the tourist killing was unjustifiable and urged the North to let it participate in an inquiry.
"Whatever the reason may be, it cannot be justified," the government said.
"It is the position of our government and people that the reason and truth should be thoroughly revealed because this is a grave issue concerning the life and safety of an innocent civilian."
South Korea suspended tours to the resort after the killing.
The unification ministry, which handles cross-border relations, also questioned the account which the North gave to the South Korean tour operator Hyundai Asan.
A ministry spokesman, quoted by Yonhap news agency, said CCTV footage at her hotel showed she left it just 20 minutes before she was shot. In that time, according to the North's account, she travelled at least 3,000 metres (9,900 feet) on foot.
"It is very doubtful that such a woman in her 50s had covered about three kilometers in just 20 minutes. In addition, the area was entirely sand," the spokesman said.
Pyongyang allowed a group of executives from Hyundai Asan to investigate the scene Sunday, Hyundai officials said.
North and South Korea have remained technically at war since the 1950-1953 conflict ended without a formal peace treaty, and their border is considered to be one of the world's most dangerous military flashpoints.
International talks on ending the nuclear programmes of North Korea, which tested an atom bomb in 2006, appeared to make progress Saturday when the North pledged to disable facilities by the end of October and allow inspections.
But analysts said the killing would affect inter-Korean relations.
"Relations between the two Koreas will remain strained," Dongguk University professor Koh Yu-Hwan told AFP.
"However the cash-strapped North may not want a permanent suspension of the tour programme, a major source of hard currency," he said.
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