North Korea renews call for dialogue

16 January 2011 | 15:14 | Source: Ria novosti

MOSCOW -- North Korea reiterated its call for talks with South Korea, seeking an end to the confrontation on the peninsula, the Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday. "Dialogue and negotiations are the only just way for independently solving the issue of the country's reunification by the concerted efforts of the Koreans," the agency said quoting the statement made by the North Korean authorities. Pyongyang proposes holding a working-level dialogue on January 27 in North Korea's border city of Kaesong, to the north of the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas. The meeting is expected to focus on the level of participants and date of inter-Korean talks. North Korea has repeatedly proposed holding the negotiations with South Korea over the past weeks in an effort to promote economic cooperation between the countries. So far, Seoul has rejected the proposal. Tensions have been high since Pyongyang shelled the South's Yeonpyeong Island last November, killing four people. The stalemate comes months after international investigators blamed Pyongyang for sinking a South Korean warship. In December, the U.S. and South Korea held large-scale military drills in the area, forcing the North to threaten "holy war" using its nuclear deterrent.