SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Tuesday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to give a positive response to Seoul's earlier dialogue overtures, about which Pyongyang has been mum.
"We believe it is necessary to resume inter-Korean cooperation to solve humanitarian issues and ease military tensions," Seoul's unification ministry.
The ministry urged the DPRK to respond to Seoul's dialogue offers, vowing multilateral efforts to ease military tensions and solve urgent humanitarian issues including the reunion of separated families.
The Moon Jae-in government, which was inaugurated on May 10, proposed to hold talks on military affairs with the DPRK on July 21 at the truce village of Panmumjom. It was aimed at stopping all hostile acts near the military demarcation line (MDL).
The Moon administration also suggested Red Cross talks with the DPRK be held on Aug. 1, but Pyongyang has been mum about both dialogue proposals.
The Red Cross dialogue offer was designed to discuss humanitarian issues, including the reunion of families of the two sides who have been separated since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in armistice, not a peace treaty.
The Korean Peninsula is technically in a state of war as the three-year fratricidal war ended with ceasefire.
Dismissing the peace gesture from the South, the DPRK test-fired a ballistic missile of intercontinental range late Friday night, escalating military tensions on the peninsula.
The unification ministry said South Korea respects four past agreements with the DPRK about inter-Korean relations and rapprochement, including the two reached after late South Korean presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun held historic summit meetings with late DPRK leader Kim Jong Il in 2000 and 2007.
