The government has dismissed North Korea’s proposal to hold a gathering of youths as an outdated united front tactic against the South that Pyongyang has repeated in the past.
 
A Unification Ministry official told reporters on Thursday that the North must first stop all types of provocations, including nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, before making such a proposal.
 
The official stressed that the North must first demonstrate through action its determination toward denuclearization and seek to become a responsible member of the international community.
 
Earlier on Wednesday, the North’s Kim Il-sung-Kim Jong-il Youth League said in a letter that it politely proposes that the two Koreas hold a gathering of their youths from all circles of society in hopes of reunification.