South Korea has no plans to alter policy stance toward Pyongyang

South Korea is not reviewing any moves to change its policy stance toward Pyongyang or lift existing sanctions, the Unification Ministry said Monday, according to Yonhap News Agency. "South Korea is not contemplating revisions in its position in regards to the communist country, including the lifting of blanket sanctions imposed after the sinking of one of its warships by a North Korean torpedo in 2010," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do was quoted as saying in Seoul. The clarification comes as local media outlets speculated that President Park Geun-hye's remarks on a possible summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be a sign of a general policy shift. Kim also said that because the president's call for a summit in an interview with a French daily, ahead of her European trip was not a formal or specific proposal, Seoul naturally did not expect Pyongyang to respond. The North has been mum on the summit proposal although it continued to slam the South for trying to fuel tensions. "The interview was a general and unspecific statement. The ministry doesn't feel it needs to elaborate on any preconditions for such a meeting," Kim added.