Seoul is still doggedly sending messages encouraging cooperation and coexistence to North Korea amid stalled inter-Korean dialogue.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young declared Thursday that Seoul is opposed to coordinated North Korean escapes as well as the collapse of the North Korean regime.
The minister said his government was currently unprepared for any kind of mass-North Korean defections to the South.
Meanwhile, Deputy Unification Minister Lee Bong-jo also asserted Thursday that the Seoul government would work hard to consistently support North Korea as well as continue with inter-Korean economic projects. Lee also said the government would continue to send rice and fertilizer aid to the North as scheduled in order to heighten the communist regime's trust in the South.
As a part of ongoing efforts to normalize inter-Korean relations, the government will convey to Pyongyang through the South Korean Red Cross that Seoul is ready to send fertilizer aid to the North.
A government official said that with the reelection of U.S. President George W. Bush, North Korea would likely seek changes to its policies.