S Korea to offer talks with N Korea on North`s denuclearization

South Korea said that it will make an offer to North Korea to hold bilateral high-level talks to discuss North Korea`s denuclearization.

Seoul: South Korea said that it will make
an offer to North Korea to hold bilateral high-level talks to
discuss North Korea`s denuclearization.

"North Korea`s denuclearization is the most important
security issue," South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman
Chun Hae Sung told a news briefing on Friday.

The offer will be formally delivered to the North after
details are finalized through consultations among related
government agencies, Chun said.

"High-level talks (with the North) are needed by all
means to ascertain (the North`s) intent on denuclearization,
and thus a proposal for the talks will be made later," Chun
said.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the North will
accept the South`s offer to discuss the North`s nuclear
weapons program at a bilateral forum in light of its
long-standing position that the nuclear issue should
be handled through the six-party talks process.

The six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the United
States, China, Japan and Russia, have remained deadlocked for
nearly two years.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Friday
it will propose a date for a preparatory talks with North
Korea next week to arrange high-level military talks on the
North`s cross-border military provocations, according to
Yonhap News Agency.

South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min Sok told
reporters that the preparatory talks are likely to be held in
mid-February, according to Yonhap.

PTI

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