North Korea last week made it clear that the South would have to lift blanket sanctions it imposed on the North in 2010 before the two sides could resume dialogue.

In a statement Friday, the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea called on Seoul to lift the sanctions in order to resolve the issue of reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. The statement further said that without the removal of the restrictions, “any kind of talks, contacts or exchanges (between the two Koreas) are impossible.”

The North’s move came hours after Seoul renewed its calls for Pyongyang to accept its offer, made a month ago, to hold high-level talks to discuss family reunions and other pending inter-Korean issues. It is deplorable for Pyongyang to link the sanctions to the family reunions, which is a purely humanitarian matter. But this cold-hearted move is not unusual for the oppressive regime.

What it implies at this juncture in inter-Korean relations is that President Park Geun-hye’s government should recognize that its eagerness to resume talks with the North will only make Pyongyang more brazen and calculative.

Park, who expressed her readiness to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in her New Year’s message, instructed her aides last week to strengthen efforts to create unspecified favorable conditions for the North to come forward for dialogue. Her administration has asked activist groups here to refrain from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, while rejecting a demand from the North that the South suspend annual joint military exercises with the U.S.

Whether and when to lift the sanctions slapped on the North after its 2010 torpedo attack on a South Korean warship remains the most sensitive part of Seoul’s efforts to improve inter-Korean relations. The matter needs close coordination with the U.S., which is moving to toughen its own sanctions on Pyongyang.

The South has taken the position that the issue can be discussed with the North if relations are put back on track. Consideration may be given to lifting the 2010 sanctions in a gradual manner. Even so, Seoul needs to avoid giving the impression of being overly keen to make deals with Pyongyang.