S Korean president calls for regular dialogue with DPRK

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday called for regularly holding a senior-level dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) after visiting DPRK officials agreed Saturday to another round of high- level inter-Korean talks.

Park's remarks came after DPRK's second-in-command Hwang Pyong So made a surprise visit to South Korea for the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games together with Choe Ryong Hae and Kim Yang Gon, secretaries of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Park said during a meeting of senior presidential secretaries that the high-ranking DPRK delegation attended the closing ceremony and held talks with South Korean counterparts, hoping the two Koreas could take the visit as an opportunity for "opening the door of peace" through dialogue.

The inter-Korean relations had repeated a vicious cycle of cooling ties even after inter-Korean contacts, leading to the failure to keep developing relations between the two Koreas, she said.

Park noted the agreement to hold the second round of senior- level talks had a meaning as it marked a milestone in improving inter-Korean relations.

Seoul and Pyongyang held the vice ministerial-level dialogue in mid-February, the first such talks since Park took office in February 2013. Even after the dialogue, the DPRK test-fired ballistic missiles and threatened a "new form" of nuclear test in protest against joint military drills between South Korea and the United States.

Park said it needs to make efforts to pay the way for a peaceful reunification between the two Koreas by regularly holding inter-Korean high-level talks, adding that the upcoming senior- level dialogue should not become a one-off event.

The visiting DPRK delegation said the second round of inter- Korean talks can be held between late October and early November whenever South Korea feels comfortable.

Park said she anticipates that the DPRK would show its sincerity toward the improved inter-Korean relations with actions at the upcoming high-level dialogue.