1st LD: DPRK proposes talks between north-south militaries

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday sent a notice to South Korea offering to hold talks between the military authorities of the two sides to "defuse military tension" on the Korean Peninsula, the state media KCNA reported.

The National Defense Commission of the DPRK proposed to its South Korean counterpart a working-level contact for the talks between the militaries "at the date and place both sides deem convenient in late May or early June," the KCNA reported.

The talks aims to defuse military tensions, create a confidence-building atmosphere and prevent war, it said.

"We think that it is necessary for the military authorities to discuss in an honest and candid manner the outstanding issues related to any possible military conflict and agree on and implement institutional and legal measures essential for taking practical steps for building confidence between the militaries," the KCNA quoted the notice as saying.

While delivering the work report of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) at the party's seventh Congress on May 6-9, the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un proposed that the two sides on the Korean Peninsula hold talks at all levels to remove misunderstanding and distrust.

But Seoul has turned down the offer, saying the proposal lacked sincerity.

The DPRK's proposal "is merely its propaganda drive with no sincerity as it speaks of inter-Korean dialogue while continuing to develop a nuclear arsenal," the Unification Ministry of South Korea said.

Meanwhile, Seoul has urged Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program, saying that it sees the Korean Peninsula denuclearization as the premise of peace talks between the two sides. Endi