South Korea Offers North Korea to Sit Down at Negotiating Table

The minister suggested holding talks at the Panmunjom village after the North Korean President, Kim Jong Un, expressed hopes that the country's athletes would take part in the upcoming Olympic Games set to take place in South Korea, Sputnik reported.

"We are expecting the South and the North to be able to discuss the participation of the North Korean side in the Olympics in Pyeongchang as well as other topical issues regarding the improvement of the relations between the South and the North," the minister added.

The move has been welcomed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has expressed willingness to allow the participation of North Korean athletes in the event.

The negotiations may take place amid reports by Japan's Kyodo News Agency, claiming that Tokyo was considering four possible military scenarios on the Korean Peninsula, including hostilities between the armed forces of North Korea and South Korea, a US preemptive strike on the DPRK, a South Korean invasion of the DPRK and a North Korean missile strike on Japan.

All of inter-Korean communication channels have been severed since the previous South Korean government under impeached President Park Geun-hye decided unilaterally to close down the Kaesong Industrial Complex in response to the DPRK's fourth nuclear test in January 2016.

If realized, the talks would mark the first inter-Korean dialogue since the Moon Jae-in government was sworn in last May. The last inter-Korean dialogue was held in December 2015 for a vice ministerial-level meeting.