North Korea has expressed willingness to continue talking with the South and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula while offering to dispatch delegations to the upcoming Winter Games, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said.

“North Korea has guaranteed peace on the Korean Peninsula, talked about promoting reconciliation among the Korean people, and solving issues surrounding the South and the North through dialogue and negotiations,” Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung said in a briefing.

“North Korea has expressed its hope to send as many delegates to the PyeongChang Olympics,” Chun added.

According to Chun, North Korea’s national Olympic Committee delegation, athletes, supporters, art performers, observers, a taekwondo demonstration team and journalists are expected to come to the PyeongChang Olympics. 

The remark came from the five-member North Korean delegation that held a meeting with its South Korean counterparts at Panmunjeom near the border. The meeting was the first formal inter-Korean meeting in two years.

Ri Son-gwon, the chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, was the chief delegate of the North Korean delegation, and Cho Myoung-gyon, Seoul’s unification minister was his South Korean counterpart.

South Korea also proposed holding reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War around Lunar New Year. The holiday falls on Feb. 15-17 this year.

On the issue of “denuclearization,” North Korea reportedly remained tight-lipped, but seemed attentive toward South Korea’s remarks, said Chun.

Military tensions have risen on the Korean Peninsula due to the North’s relentless missile provocations and its sixth and largest nuclear test last year.

The Moon administration has been pushing for dialogue to bring about a thaw in the long-stalled inter-Korean relations and bring about North Korea’s denuclearization.

By Jung Min-kyung & Joint Press Corps (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)