The North Calls for Unification of All Koreans without Foreign Aid

The rare announcement, which was made via the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday morning, called on all Koreans to "promote contact, travel and cooperation between North and South Korea."

It added that the North will "smash" all obstacles on the path towards the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, while stressing that military tensions on the peninsula were the "fundamental obstacle" for the better ties with the South.

The news agency stated that joint military drills with "outside forces" were also hindering the progression of ties between the two Koreas.

The report noted that Koreans should engage in an energetic drive aimed at defusing military tensions and establish a peaceful climate on the peninsula.

The first signs of thaw were seen in relations between Pyongyang and Seoul, as representatives from North and South Koreas began direct talks in early January, in the first instance of face-to-face dialog in more than two years at the Peace House in the Joint Security Area in the truce village of Panmunjom, at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the divided countries.

Seoul and Pyongyang have agreed on the North Korean team’s participation in the Olympic Games, while North and South Korea will march together under a unified Korean flag for the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang next month.

Pyongyang has firmly defended its military program as a deterrent against the hostile policies of the US and its regional allies, including South Korea and Japan. North Korean officials have time and again accused their American counterparts of seeking regime change in their country.

Washington’s decades-long military presence in and around the Korean Peninsula has forced Pyongyang to develop its ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons as a deterrent against Washington's aggression.

Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have also held a series of high-profile war games near the Korean Peninsula over the past months, amid an ongoing standoff over Pyongyang's development of ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads, as both South Korea and Japan – despite tense relations amid disputes over history and territory – are allies and look to the US for their security.

The United States has thousands of troops in the region, partially in South Korea and Japan, and routinely threatens the North with military action to stop its weapons program.