In defiance of international opposition, North Korea launched a rocket in late 2012 and carried out its third nuclear test in early 2013. But its unilateral hard line failed to make the international community recognize it as a nuclear state. Instead, its relations with South Korea, the United States and the international community at large have become ever more strained.

Wang said that North Korea, now under UN sanctions over its nuclear program, urgently needs foreign aid and international cooperation to develop the economy and improve people's livelihood. According to him, this is a major reason why senior North Korean officials' recent visits to a number of countries—particularly West European countries.

Furthermore, North Korea's diplomatic initiatives are closely related to Kim Jong Un's personal line of conduct. Some rare words and deeds of North Korean diplomats, for example, admitting the failure of its satellite launch and speaking of human rights at a UN meeting, have reflected the openness of the young leader, Wang said.

Two unification plans

Days after the DPRK delegation's visit to Incheon, North Korea again brought up its unification plan. According to DPRK's Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang called Seoul to consider its unification plan on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the proposal for founding the Democratic Federal Republic of Korea on October 10. The proposal was clarified by late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung at the Sixth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1980.

North Korea needs to give its voice on the unification issue whereas South Korea has spoken of its proposal frequently on some international occasions this year, said Zhang Liangui, an expert on Korean issues at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

South Korean President Park put forward a three-step plan for peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula during a speech at the Dresden University of Technology, Germany, on March 28.

On September 24, Park again spoke of the unification proposal in her address at the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly. She said that unification would be a "bonanza" for Koreans and a blessing for neighboring countries as it would open up new opportunities through the marriage of South Korea's capital and technology with the North's rich natural resources.

More importantly, Park stressed that North Korea should abandon its nuclear program and make necessary changes to pursue economic development and improve people's livelihood.

South Korea has established a preparation committee in a bid to push forward its unification proposal.

"It is unlikely for South Korea to receive the proposal of founding a federal republic with the North," Zhang said.

North Korea's proposal was put forward 34 years ago, but the South has never responded. In fact, the two sides each have their own strategic objectives.

"North Korea is in a passive position on the unification issue," Zhang said. "Bringing up Kim Il Sung's proposal aims to regain the initiative, particularly in terms of diplomacy."

Although it is willing to discuss unification with Seoul, Pyongyang insists that it not abandon its nuclear program unless Washington abolishes its hostile policy and nuclear threat against North Korea.

Park's unification proposal continues along with the concept of her predecessor Lee Myung Bak. Since South Korea's economy is superior to North Korea's, the former is expected to take the leading position in the unification process—much to the concern of North Korea, Zhang analyzed.

As hopes for a new round of inter-Korean high-level dialogue rise, tension is again forming between the two sides.

Armies of North and South Koreas exchanged fires across the land border in Paju, some 40 km northwest of Seoul, as about 10 DPRK soldiers approached the military demarcation line (MDL) inside the demilitarized zone on October 19, according to South Korean Defense Ministry.

This was the second shooting along the MDL in less than 10 days. The previous skirmish along the border happened after North Korean soldiers opened fire at balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets that were floating across the border from South Korean activists.

Naval ships of the two Koreas also traded warning shots in the western sea boundary after a DPRK patrol ship violated the disputed maritime border, South Korean media outlets reported on October 7.

These incidents have cast a cloud over the potential for constructive high-level dialogues between the two sides.

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