South Korea called on North Korea Friday to “quickly accept” its offer to hold military talks in a bid to easy rising border tensions on the Korean Peninsula and eventually to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang has yet to officially respond to Seoul's proposal for the military meeting and for separate talks next month to resume the temporary reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
South Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday that it has become difficult to hold the meeting Seoul had initially proposed for July 21 at the Panmunjom truce village on the heavily militarized inter-Korean border.
“Easing the military tension between the South and North and restoring the military dialogue channel are very urgent tasks for peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula,'' the statement said.
If Seoul's proposal materialized at some point, the talks would be the first inter-Korean dialogue since December 2017.
Since then, ties between the Koreas have worsened over North Korea's expanding nuclear and missile programs.
韩国星期五呼吁朝鲜“迅速接受”韩国提出的军事会谈建议，缓和朝鲜半岛不断升级的边界紧张局势，并最终解除朝鲜的核武器项目。
针对韩国的军事会谈提议，以及下个月围绕恢复韩战离散家庭团聚举行会谈的建议，朝鲜方面尚未做出正式回复。
韩国国防部星期五发表声明说，韩国原本提出7月21日在板门店举行会谈，现在看起来很难实现。
声明说：”缓解韩国和朝鲜的军事紧张状态，恢复军事对话渠道，对朝鲜半岛的和平稳定来说是十分紧迫的任务。“
如果韩国的提议能够成为现实的话，这次会谈将是2017年12月以来朝鲜半岛双方的首次对话。
自那时以来，朝鲜核武器和导弹项目的不断扩张使双方关系日趋恶化。