Pyongyang on Monday rejected two recent offers for talks with Seoul, but the same day suggested South Koreans would be welcome to attend a forthcoming reunification conference in North Korea, statements published via DPRK media indicated.

An invitation of North Korean participation in September’s Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) and potential inter-Korean talks to mark the 70th anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule were described by the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) as being based on insincere motivations and impossible to achieve without first improving the general nature of government-to-government relations.

“While Park’s officials are busy mentioning talks, they are also continuing to carry out joint military drills under the manipulation of the United