To President Park Geun-hye, North Korea’s response to her first overture of dialogue was certainly disappointing, if not frustrating. It appears to have displeased the South Korean leader, who has pursued her policy of building trust with Pyongyang against the backdrop of tight security posture in an earnest fashion.

The North on Sunday rebuffed the offer of dialogue made by the South three days earlier as a “cunning ploy” designed to hide Seoul’s confrontational approach and deny its responsibility for putting the fate of a joint industrial park up in the air. A statement released by a North Korean committee in charge of inter-Korean affairs said these circumstances would make any talks meaningless, adding it would depend on Seoul’s attitude whether dialogue would take place in the future.

In their initial response, some Seoul officials were cautious not to interpret it as an outright rejection of the proposal for talks. But their rhetoric became hardened, with a senior security aide to Park coming later to express “deep regret” over Pyongyang’s response. His remarks apparently reflected the president’s stance. Park may have realized it would be harder to push for the process of building trust between the two Koreas as the North made clear that it would not come to the negotiating table just for the sake of talks. Its reaction indicates that it will insist on sitting with the South only at the time and in the framework of its choosing, after gaining some concrete concessions.

Park will need to take a more patient and sophisticated approach to get her signature policy to bring about tangible results. Her administration should also be equipped with far-sighted strategies in preparation for the possibility that the U.S. and China will seek to work out a formula between themselves to ease the crisis on the peninsula and Washington may move to hold direct negotiations with Pyongyang.

North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong-un might have gone too far to make an easy turnaround from the bellicose course he has taken over the past months. He may also need to keep up the tension for the time being to consolidate his grip on power. It can be expected that he will begin to shift into dialogue mode after the South Korean and U.S. troops end their annual joint military exercises late this month.

In a sense, it may be he who is in more urgent need of an exit from the crisis that he has exacerbated. If he waits too long or fails to seize on a proper opportunity, he may risk regime collapse from an unexpected event.