South Korea Urges North to Start New Year With Dialogue, Unification Ministry Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The South Korean Unification Ministry urged the North on Monday to begin the new year with dialogue and cooperation, following the North's announcement of a meeting planned to be held by the Workers' Party on plans for 2022.

"We hope North Korea will start the new year by opening the door for dialogue with the international community, and take a step forward for engagement and cooperation," the ministry's spokesperson Lee Jong-joo said during a press briefing as quoted by Yonhap news agency.

According to the spokesperson, the Workers' Party meeting will be chaired by North Korean leader Kim Jong Unand be held sometime in the final weeks of December. The event usually lasts from one up to four days.

Seoul will keep close tabs on the outcome of the meeting and looking forward to receiving any messages on inter-Korean relations or nuclear talks, Lee noted.

On 13 December, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that China, North Korea and the United States have agreed in principle to the declaration putting an end to the Korean War. Moon stressed that the declaration should establish a peace regime in the Korean Peninsula and put an end to the armistice, adding that it was important to initiate talks between the North and South and between the US and North Korea.

The proposition of an end-of-war declaration between the two Koreas was voiced by Moon in September at the United Nations session.