"Minister Kang explained the situation, in light of which the South Korean government had made a proposal to hold inter-Korean talks at the highest level, and underlined the position of the government of South Korea, which offers to promote a peaceful solution to the North Korean nuclear issue as well as the normalization of relations between Seoul and Pyongyang on the occasion of the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang," the statement read.
Kang and Tillerson also discussed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's New Year address to the nation, where he expressed hope that the country's athletes might participate in the Olympics and agreed to continue joint diplomatic efforts and cooperation on the North Korean issue, according to the statement.
Earlier in the day, a high-ranking North Korean official said that the country’s leader Kim Jong-un had ordered the reopening of a contact channel between Pyongyang and Seoul to discuss issues related to the upcoming Olympic games in Pyeongchang.
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The day before, South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon proposed holding high-level talks on January 9 between the two countries at the demilitarized zone, in Panmunjom in order to discuss the issue of North Korean athletes participating in the upcoming Olympics, slated for February 9-25.
However, following the proposition, US Envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that the US would not recognize any possible talks between the North and the South unless the talks resulted in a ban of all nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.
