South Korean leaders have said there is a "window of opportunity" for dialogue to ease tense relations following the death of Pyongyang's long-time leader Kim Jong-Il on December 17. The North's new regime headed by Kim's youngest son Jong-Un has repeatedly rejected any dealings with the South's leaders, whom it blasts as "traitors" to the Korean people. On Thursday the National Defence Commission issued a nine-point "open questionnaire" to the government of President Lee Myung-Bak and told him to stop taking about dialogue until it has responded. It urged Lee's government "to be well aware of its plight, stop talking about north-south dialogue and improved relations and double-think whether it has qualifications to be a dialogue partner of the DPRK (North Korea)", Pyongyang's official news agency reported.