South Korea's unification minister on Friday stressed the importance of international cooperation in seeking North Korea's denuclearization and improving inter-Korean ties.

Cho Myoung-gyon made the remark at a meeting with Michael Reiterer, the European Union's top envoy to South Korea, ahead of an inter-Korean summit slated for late April and a proposed summit between the United States and North Korea, to be held by May.

"Now is a beginning of (such talks). International cooperation is very important for the goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and better inter-Korean ties," the minister said at the start of the meeting.

A mood of rapprochement has been established on the Korean Peninsula as the two Koreas engaged in a flurry of sports diplomacy driven by the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

US President Donald Trump has agreed to an invitation by Kim to meet after a year of heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The summit would be the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.

Reiterer said that the EU is "very strongly" supporting all efforts to achieve North Korea's denuclearization.

He said that the EU's policy of so-called "critical engagement" is more valid than ever, given the need to apply maximum pressure on North Korea and to also seek dialogue with it.(Yonhap)