Seoul calls for regular dialogues with North Korea for peace

Seoul: South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday called for regular senior-level dialogues with North Korea. [caption id=“attachment_1743547” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] South Korean President Park Geun-hye called for dialogue with North Korea. Reuters[/caption] Park’s remarks came after North Korea’s second-in-command Hwang Pyong So made a surprise visit to South Korea for the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games with Choe Ryong Hae and Kim Yang Gon, secretaries of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Xinhua reported. Park said the high-ranking North Korean delegation attended the closing ceremony and held talks with South Korean counterparts, hoping that the two Koreas could take the visit as an opportunity for “opening the door of peace” through dialogue. Park noted the agreement to hold the second round of senior-level talks had a meaning as it marked a milestone in improving inter-Korean relations. Seoul and Pyongyang held the vice ministerial-level dialogue in February, the first such talks since Park took office in February 2013. Even after the dialogue, North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles and threatened a “new form” of nuclear test in protest against joint military drills between South Korea and the US. The visiting North Korean delegation said the second round of inter-Korean talks can be held between late October and early November. IANS