DETENTE

South Korea Proposes Talks With North

To hold in January.

South Korea proposed to hold renewed talks with North Korea next month, offering to tackle a range of issues including a “peaceful unification,” a top official said Monday. South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl Jae said he was willing to meet in Seoul or in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, for the high-level talks. “I hope that the North will show an active response to this offer,” Ryoo said. The last round of high-level talks in February led to reunions for Korean families separated by the conflict. Further talks were stalled in October after North Korea accused the South of not preventing activists from sending anti-Northern leaflets across the border via balloons. Ryoo did not address the clash, but added South Korea was “willing to discuss any issues of mutual concern.”