DPRK threats to exclude S Korea from peace talks

PYONGYANG, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) threatened Friday to exclude South Korea from any peace talks in respond to a new South Korean government plan of emergency against the DPRK, the official KCNA news said.

If South Korea dared to enforce the plan, it would receive pitiless retaliation from the north side and would be excluded from any kind of talks or negotiations to improve bilateral ties and maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula, said a statement of the National Defense Commission.

According to the KCNA, South Korean media reported on Wednesday that officials in Seoul have drawn up a plan to deal with the North in case of Pyongyang's "leadership collapse, a coup or a popular uprising" there.

The DPRK also demanded that South Korea dissolve its Unification Ministry and National Intelligence Service, bring the masterminds of the plan to trial, impose severe punishment on them and apologize for the move, the statement added.

The threats came a day after the DPRK proposed talks with South Korea to resume border tours.