N. Korea calls for increased exchanges, cooperation with South

A North Korean newspaper called Saturday for increased inter-Korean exchanges and cooperative projects with the South, underscoring the need to carry out accords reached by leaders of the two countries in the past, according to Yonhap News.

In an editorial in the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North`s Workers` Party, the North underscored the need for the two Koreas to "expand and develop exchange and cooperation in various

areas," according to Uriminzokkiri, the official Web site of North Korea.

The comments came amid Pyongyang`s sudden shift to conciliatory

diplomacy toward Seoul and Washington, apparently as the impoverished country feels the pinch of sanctions by the United Nations Security Council over its past atomic tests and military provocations.

Regardless of the nuclear deadlock and international sanctions, the North demands that Seoul follow through with the accords of 2000 and 2007, reached between North Korean leader Kim and liberal then South Korean Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.