韓國提議與朝鮮舉行高層會談

South Korea is offering to hold high-level talks with bitter rival North Korea over the possibility of the North participating in the upcoming Winter Olympics being held in South Korea.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said Tuesday Seoul wants to meet North Korean diplomats in exactly one week in the truce village of Panmunjom, located in the demilitarized zone that separates the North and South. The meeting would be the first high-level talks between Seoul and Pyongyang since December 2015.

Seoul's offer comes one day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un used his annual New Year's Day address to announce he is considering sending a team to take part in next month's Olympic games in Pyeongchang.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in welcomed Kim's suggestion, but said any improvements in North and South relations must occur in tandem with Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear weapons program.韓國提出與對手朝鮮舉行高層對話，商討朝鮮參加將在韓國舉行的冬季奧運會的可能。

韓國統一部長官趙明均星期二說，韓國希望一星期後在分割朝鮮半島南北方的非軍事區的板門店停戰村與朝鮮外交官會談。這將是2015年12月以來首爾和平壤之間的第一次高層會談。

韓國建議會談前一天，朝鮮領導人金正恩在他的新年講話中宣佈他考慮派遣運動隊參加下個月在平昌舉行的冬奧會。

韓國總統文在寅對金正恩的建議表示歡迎，但是說，朝鮮必須首先放棄核武器計劃，然後朝鮮和韓國之間的關係纔可能改善。