Remark comes a day after the North agreed to send a delegation to Winter Olympics in S Korea
South Korean President Moon Jae-in attends his New Year news conference at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul. Pic/AFP
South Korea's president said on Wednesday that he's open to meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if certain conditions are met, as he vowed to push for more talks and cooperation with the North to try and resolve the nuclear standoff. President Moon Jae-in had previously floated the idea of a summit with Kim under conditions. But his latest comment came a day after the North agreed to send a delegation to next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea and hold military talks on reducing animosities along their tense border, the measures that Moon's government has been demanding.
The accords, reached at the rivals' first meeting in about two years, were widely viewed as a positive step following a year of escalating tension over Kim's advancing nuclear and missile programmes. But critics cautioned against reading too much into North's moves, because tensions could flare again quickly, as Pyongyang still openly seeks to expand its weapons arsenal. During a televised news conference in Seoul, Moon described the North's Olympic participation as "very desirable", but said inter-Korean relations cannot be improved without progress in the nuclear standoff, and vice versa.
Russia welcomes agreements in NK-SK talks
Russia welcomes the agreements reached in talks between North Korea and South Korea, the Russian foreign ministry said. "We hope that their implementation will serve to de-escalate tensions in the Korean peninsula," the ministry said.
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