South Korea's football and weightlifting governing bodies are attempting to talk to North Korea about a World Cup qualifier and an international weightlifting event to be held in Pyongyang next month, the unification ministry said Monday.

Pyongyang is scheduled to host the football match with the South on Oct. 15, and the international junior weightlifting event from Oct. 20-27, in what would be rare sports exchanges between the two sides amid a stall in the reconciliation process.

"Consultations are under way on those issues via the KFA and the Korea Weightlifting Federation," the ministry said in a report submitted to lawmakers without providing details.

The KFA has delivered its views with regard to a trip to the North by the South's national football team and other related issues, but the North has yet to give answers. The North has not invited South Korean athletes to the weightlifting event yet.

The upcoming sports events are regarded as a major chance to bolster contact between the two Koreas at a time when cross-border exchanges have been almost stalled in recent months.

North Korea has not responded to South Korea's offers for talks, cooperative projects and even humanitarian assistance in recent months amid a lack of progress in denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States.

The ministry said that inter-Korean exchanges in the civilian areas have been taking place despite a "lull" in cross-border contact between the governments of the two Koreas. (Yonhap)