SEOUL, July 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea proposed that two Koreas hold talks next week to work out details on Pyongyang's participation in the Asian Games to be held in the South later this year, a Unification Ministry official said Friday.
The ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, proposed in a message that three officials from the organizing committee meet with their North Korean counterparts on Thursday at the neutral truce village of Panmunjom.
The move came a day after North Korea called for talks with South Korea around next Tuesday to discuss the details of its plan to send athletes and a cheering squad to the quadrennial competition to be held from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 in Incheon, just west of Seoul.
North Korea said earlier this week its decision to send both athletes and a cheering squad to Incheon is meant to improve its chilly relations with South Korea.
On Wednesday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off the country's east coast, the latest in a series of launches in recent months.
In 2002, North Korea sent about 180 athletes and a squad of more than 100 female cheerleaders to the Asian Games in South Korea's second-largest city of Busan.
S. Korea offers talks with N. Korea next week on Asian Games
The ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, proposed in a message that three officials from the organizing committee meet with their North Korean counterparts on Thursday at the neutral truce village of Panmunjom.
The move came a day after North Korea called for talks with South Korea around next Tuesday to discuss the details of its plan to send athletes and a cheering squad to the quadrennial competition to be held from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 in Incheon, just west of Seoul.
North Korea said earlier this week its decision to send both athletes and a cheering squad to Incheon is meant to improve its chilly relations with South Korea.
On Wednesday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off the country's east coast, the latest in a series of launches in recent months.
In 2002, North Korea sent about 180 athletes and a squad of more than 100 female cheerleaders to the Asian Games in South Korea's second-largest city of Busan.
S. Korea offers talks with N. Korea next week on Asian Games
