South Korea's unification ministry said Monday it will seek inter-Korean talks after gauging North Korea's reaction to President Moon Jae-in's latest proposal to bring peace to the divided peninsula.
Moon unveiled his broad vision for improving inter-Korean relations during his speech in Berlin last Thursday, two days after North Korea test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told lawmakers that South Korea will explore ways to restore disconnected inter-Korean communication channels following Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests in 2016.
This photo, taken on July 6, 2017, shows South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivering a speech in Berlin over his vision for bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)
"When conditions for dialogue are created, the government plans to comprehensively discuss pending issues for North Korea's denuclearization, peace on the Korean Peninsula and better inter-Korean ties," the ministry said in a report.
Last week, Moon proposed that the two Koreas mutually suspend hostile acts along their tense border on the July 27 anniversary of the armistice treaty that ended the three-year Korean War in 1953.
He also offered to hold reunions of families torn apart by the war on Oct. 4, Korea's lunar fall harvest holiday and the 10th anniversary of the second inter-Korean summit.
North Korea has yet to show its official response to Moon's proposal. (Yonhap)