NORTH Korea has laid down rigid pre-conditions for dialogue with Seoul or Washington, which South Korea has rejected as "incomprehensible".
They include the withdrawal of UN sanctions and a guaranteed end to South Korea-US joint military drills.
The list of demands from the North's top military body was swiftly rejected as "incomprehensible" by South Korea which, together with the US, has made any talks conditional on the North taking steps towards denuclearisation.
Dialogue has become the new focus of a blistering rhetorical battle that has sent military tensions soaring on the Korean peninsula ever since the North carried out its third nuclear test in February.
The first step demanded by the North's National Military Commission was the withdrawal of "cooked up" UN sanctions that were imposed after the nuclear test in February.
North Korea has repeatedly cited the sanctions as a prime trigger for the current crisis.
The other main bone of contention has been ongoing joint South Korea-US military drills, which have involved the deployment of nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young called the North's pre-conditions "absurd" and said it was time for Pyongyang to choose engagement with the international community over provocation.
"We strongly urge the North to stop making such incomprehensible demands and to make the wise choice we have repeatedly urged," Cho told a press briefing.
Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea expert with the International Crisis Group, ruled out any suggestion that the North was softening its position and said those hoping a dialogue might emerge were being wilfully naive.
The North, Pinkston argued, had bound itself to a course that could only end with its recognition as a nuclear power - a status that is anathema to the United States and its allies.
"The North is committed. It's burned its bridges. Any reversal could only be made at immense domestic cost to the regime.
"We're still firmly on a collision course, and it's not going to end well."
South Korea's new president, Park Geun-Hye, has made tentative - and conditional - offers of talks, which received the backing of US Secretary of State John Kerry during his recent Northeast Asia tour.
Both Park and Kerry stressed that any talks would have to be substantive and predicated on signals from North Korea that it "change its ways" and respect its international obligations, especially with its nuclear program.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Pyongyang on Wednesday to "seriously" consider Seoul's offer.
The commission statement came just hours after the North's main body for inter-Korean relations ruled out any immediate return to the negotiating table.
Intelligence reports suggest the North has two Musudan missiles primed to fire from its east coast, and most observers had predicted a launch on or around April 15, the birthday of the North's late founder Kim Il-Sung.
They include the withdrawal of UN sanctions and a guaranteed end to South Korea-US joint military drills.
The list of demands from the North's top military body was swiftly rejected as "incomprehensible" by South Korea which, together with the US, has made any talks conditional on the North taking steps towards denuclearisation.
Dialogue has become the new focus of a blistering rhetorical battle that has sent military tensions soaring on the Korean peninsula ever since the North carried out its third nuclear test in February.
The first step demanded by the North's National Military Commission was the withdrawal of "cooked up" UN sanctions that were imposed after the nuclear test in February.
North Korea has repeatedly cited the sanctions as a prime trigger for the current crisis.
The other main bone of contention has been ongoing joint South Korea-US military drills, which have involved the deployment of nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young called the North's pre-conditions "absurd" and said it was time for Pyongyang to choose engagement with the international community over provocation.
"We strongly urge the North to stop making such incomprehensible demands and to make the wise choice we have repeatedly urged," Cho told a press briefing.
Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea expert with the International Crisis Group, ruled out any suggestion that the North was softening its position and said those hoping a dialogue might emerge were being wilfully naive.
The North, Pinkston argued, had bound itself to a course that could only end with its recognition as a nuclear power - a status that is anathema to the United States and its allies.
"The North is committed. It's burned its bridges. Any reversal could only be made at immense domestic cost to the regime.
"We're still firmly on a collision course, and it's not going to end well."
South Korea's new president, Park Geun-Hye, has made tentative - and conditional - offers of talks, which received the backing of US Secretary of State John Kerry during his recent Northeast Asia tour.
Both Park and Kerry stressed that any talks would have to be substantive and predicated on signals from North Korea that it "change its ways" and respect its international obligations, especially with its nuclear program.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Pyongyang on Wednesday to "seriously" consider Seoul's offer.
The commission statement came just hours after the North's main body for inter-Korean relations ruled out any immediate return to the negotiating table.
Intelligence reports suggest the North has two Musudan missiles primed to fire from its east coast, and most observers had predicted a launch on or around April 15, the birthday of the North's late founder Kim Il-Sung.
