SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Friday asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to provide assistance for resuming dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Park and Ban, a native South Korean, made a telephone call to exchange New Year's greetings, according to the South Korean presidential office.
Park said she anticipates Ban's support to tackle various issues together with the UN, such as the resumption of inter- Korean talks, the fundamental improvement in inter-Korean ties by resolving the DPRK's nuclear issue and an expanded assistance to DPRK people for their higher quality of livelihood.
In response, Ban said he will make his best efforts to provide necessary assistance as a UN chief to help improve situations on the Korean Peninsula.
When South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae proposed a high-level dialogue with the DPRK on Monday, Ban issued a statement of support for the dialogue offer. Park expressed her gratitude for the statement during the phone call.
In his New Year's address, top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un made an apparent offer to hold a summit with President Park, saying "there is no reason not to hold the highest-level talks" if atmosphere and environment are formed.
In response to it, Seoul said it can hold all forms of dialogue with Pyongyang, urging the DPRK to first respond positively to South Korea's offer on Monday to hold senior-level meetings to discuss all issues of mutual concern.
SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korea has stuck to a position that all issues with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( DPRK) should be resolved through cooperation and dialogue, Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said on Friday. Full story
PYONGYANG, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un on Thursday called on South Korea to halt all provocative war maneuvers and emphasized that there is no reason not to hold highest-level north-south talks in a televised New Year's speech.
The year of 2015 will mark a turning point for blazing a path toward independent reunification of the Korean nation, he noted. Full story
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye vowed on Wednesday to lay an "actual and detailed" foundation and open a way for reunification with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Park said in her New Year's message that she will end the 70- year division of the Korean Peninsula, which caused conflicts and severance, vowing to build an "actual and detailed" foundation for reunification by encouraging the DPRK to change based on trust. Full story
