NKorea threatens to cancel reunions with Seoul

North Korea today threatened to cancel a reunion later this month of Korean War-divided families because of upcoming US-South Korean military drills, causing frustration in Seoul only one day after the rivals agreed on dates for the emotional meetings.
The apparent about-face fits a pattern analysts say North Korea often follows of agreeing to things Seoul covets and then pulling back until Pyongyang gets what it wants, in this case a ratcheting down of the massive military drills by Seoul and Washington that are seen as a huge drain on impoverished North Korea's military.
The rival Koreas decided yesterday to restart the family reunions, which haven't been held since 2010, from February 20-25. Before the agreement, many in Seoul were skeptical that Pyongyang would allow the reunions anytime soon because of its anger over the annual springtime military drills that are also scheduled later this month. Pyongyang calls the drills preparation for war, while the allies say the exercises are purely defensive.

North Korea has a history of launching provocations and scrapping cooperation accords with South Korea to protest the allies' springtime drills. The country used last year's drills as a pretext for churning out near-daily threats, including vows of nuclear war against Seoul and Washington.
It also canceled planned family reunions last September after accusing Seoul of preparing for war drills and other hostile acts.
The North's powerful National Defense Commission today issued a statement warning that the reunions may not happen if South Korea goes ahead with the drills and continues slandering leader Kim Jong Un.
"It would be a nonsense to hold reunions of families and relatives separated due to the past war while extremely dangerous nuclear war drills take place," an unidentified spokesman for the commission's policy department said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The spokesman said North Korea "cannot help reviewing whether to implement" the accord on family reunions if "viciously defaming of our supreme leadership and groundless slandering of our system" continue. North Korea reacts with sensitivity to any perceived negative comments about its leadership, including in South Korea's vibrant media.