South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged on Tuesday the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to come to the dialogue table for peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula.
"I hope North Korea (DPRK) rapidly come to the table for the inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation and have an actual consultation about peace of the peninsula and detailed projects for unification,"Park said during the first cabinet meeting of this year.
Park said one of the most important things at this point would be the DPRK showing its sincerity, with an actual behavior toward an improvement in inter-Korean relations.
The president said it was a good thing for the DPRK to have expressed its willingness toward inter-Korean talks and exchange through the New Year's speech, stressing the need for basic preparations for the new era of unified Korean Peninsula.
Her comments came after top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's address that"there is no reason not to hold the highest-level talks"with South Korea, making an apparent offer to hold an inter-Korean summit.
South Korea has said that it was open to all forms of dialogue with the DPRK, urging Pyongyang to first respond positively to Seoul's offer to hold high-level talks in January.