N Korea slams Seoul-Tokyo talks

North Korea has expressed its anger over fresh efforts by South Korea and Japan to enhance bilateral military ties, urging Seoul to resume talks before any move to defuse regional tensions.

On Sunday, Rodong Sinmun, mouthpiece of the North’s ruling Communist Party, labeled talks held on January 10 between Seoul and Tokyo’s defense chiefs a “new military conspiracy” that hampered regional security by damaging inter-Korea ties.

“Japan has worked hard with bloodshot eyes to secure a legitimate pretext for its military overseas expansion,” the newspaper said in an editorial carried by state media.

It also denounced Seoul for “paving the way for Japan’s reinvasion” of the Korean Peninsula, a reference to Japan’s brutal colonial occupation from 1910-1945.

“The recent military talks between the South and Japan will accelerate a military alliance among the US, Japan and South Korea and will create another major obstacle in inter-Korea dialogues and improving relations,” the newspaper said.

Pyongyang has also repeated calls for the resumption of talks with Seoul.

South Korea has so far rejected the North’s peace overtures, saying the country only wants to improve its international image and get much-needed aid.

Amid high tensions between the two Koreas, North Korea on Wednesday reopened a border hotline with the South despite the rejection of its latest call for dialogue.

The North cut off the line last year following a tension between Pyongyang and Seoul over a South Korean warship which was sunk by a torpedo allegedly fired by North Korea.

Forty-six sailors died in the incident, which Seoul blamed on Pyongyang — a charge strongly denied by the North.

Relations between the Koreas further soured after the two Koreas also engaged in a deadly border clash in November, with the North shelling a South Korean village.

The fighting left four South Koreans dead and both sides blamed each other for the clash.

Seeking to curb tensions with Seoul, the North has recently proposed resuming talks with South Korea to defuse tension but Seoul has so far rebuffed the offer.