North Korea has proposed holding official talks with South Korea for the first time since its nuclear test last month to discuss ways of sending unified teams to international sporting events, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics, South Korea's Unification Ministry said Thursday.
The proposal follows a series of formal and informal contacts between the divided Koreas to discuss the issue. But it comes after the communist state's missile tests in early July and nuclear test on Oct. 9, which led to an abrupt interruption of nearly all inter-Korean dialogue.
"Mun Jae-duk, head of North Korea's National Olympic Committee, sent a letter through Panmunjom (inside the demilitarized zone) on Nov. 10 to the head of the (South) Korean Olympic Committee Kim Jung-kil to propose holding talks to discuss ways to form an unified team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics," Cho Yong-nam, head of the social and cultural exchanges bureau at the Unification Ministry, told reporters.
The proposal also includes talks on ways to form a unified delegation for the opening ceremony of this year's Asian Games, slated for next month in Qatar, the ministry official said. The countries would still be fielding separate teams for the competition in Doha.
Seoul, Nov. 16 (Yonhap News)
N. Korea proposes first talks with Seoul since nuclear test on unified Olympic team |
