South Korea has offered North Korea talks to discuss several non-political issues on a working level to soften inter-Korean relations, but Pyongyang’s refusal is a pity for North Korea itself, South Korea’s Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said.

The South Korean Red Cross on Feb. 14 proposed working-level talks with its North Korean counterpart for discussions on reunions of separated families. The proposal was the first in 15 months after the South Korean government indefinitely postponed inter-Korean Red Cross talks in November 2010, shortly after the North’s deadly shelling on the South’s Yeonpyeong Island.

Pyongyang has not responded to Seoul’s Feb. 8 proposal to help with pest control at ancient tombs in the communist nation, either.

To hold any inter-Korean talks, North Korea reportedly wants to first resume the Mount Geumgang tour, which has been suspended since the death of a South Korean tourist shot by a North Korean soldier near the Mount Geumgang resort in 2008.

“Don’t I want to resolve the Mount Geumgang tourism issue? I do. We can discuss it or other issues as well, once we open dialogue,” Yu told reporters in Seoul, one day prior to his departure for meetings with policymakers in Germany and the EU for consultations on reunification policy.

“I can’t use the Mount Geumgang issue as leverage to resolve other inter-Korean issues because the safety of our citizens is at stake.”

Yu stressed that he would not use a tacit method in dealing with North Korea, adding that he does not feel it necessary to respond to the North’s latest series of threats and accusations towards the South.

He strongly criticized the South Korean political circle for not approving a bill that seeks to create a unification account within the South-North Cooperation Fund to prepare for a reunification of the two Koreas.

Through the so-called “unification jar,” the Unification Ministry had planned to accumulate more than 50 trillion won ($44.5 billion) by 2030 by saving annual carryovers of the unused fund and donations from citizens and corporations.

“The South Korean people showed much interest in the unification jar but I feel very sorry that politicians neglected it,” Yu said.

As for worries that the North might not be able to pay back loans it took from the South, he said he would not worry “in advance,” until the maturity nears.

For food aid from 2000 to 2007, Seoul provided 823 billion won worth of 2.4 million tons of rice and 200,000 tons of corn. The loan has 20 years of maturity and an annual interest of 1 percent. The 6.7 billion won to be paid in the first phase is due on June 7 and the remainder will mature in stages until 2037.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)