New Delhi:
South Korea on Tuesday offered high-level delegation talks with North Korea next week over the possible participation of Pyongyang in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
Earlier, in a televised New Year speech, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-UN said he was considering to send a team to South Korea for Winter Olympic Games in February.
Kim also said he was open to dialogue and two sides should “urgently meet to discuss the possibility."
Reacting to the development, South Korea's president Moon Jae-in termed Kim’s New Year offer as "groundbreaking chance" to improve ties.
However, Moon said North Korea's nuclear programme would also be discussed in the backdrop of any discussions with Kim Jong-UN.
US president Donald Trump also reacted to Kim’s New Year speech and said, “Sanctions and “other” pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time.”
The two rival nations last held high-level talks in December 2015 in the Kaesong joint industrial zone. The meeting, however, without an agreement as both side could not reach on a consensus.
In July last year, South Korea proposed two bilateral meetings but none of them could take place as North Korea continued testing nuclear missiles.
Though, Kim Jong-UN offered an olive branch to neighbouring South Korea, he continued to issue threats against US.
Kim said, a nuclear launch button is always on his table and US will not even be able to start a war.
