SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea on Tuesday offered high-level talks with rival North Korea to find ways to cooperate on next month’s Winter Olympics in the South. Seoul’s quick proposal following a rare rapprochement overture from the North a day earlier offers the possibility of better ties after a year that saw a nuclear standoff increase fear of war on the Korean Peninsula.

In a closely watched New Year’s address, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Monday that he was willing to send a delegation to the Olympics, though he also repeated fiery nuclear threats against the United States. Analysts say Kim may be trying to drive a wedge between Seoul and its ally Washington in a bid to reduce international isolation and sanctions against North Korea.

Kim’s overture was welcome news for a South Korean government led by liberal President Moon Jae-in, who favors dialogue to ease the North’s nuclear threats and wants to use the Olympics as a chance to improve inter-Korean ties.

Moon’s unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, proposed in a nationally televised news conference that the two Koreas meet Jan. 9 at the shared border village of Panmunjom to discuss Olympic cooperation and how to improve overall ties.

Earlier Tuesday, Moon spoke of what he described as Kim’s positive response to his earlier dialogue overtures and ordered officials to study how to restore talks with North Korea and get the North to participate in the Olympics.

North Korea did not immediately react. But if there are talks, they would be the first formal dialogue between the Koreas since December 2015. Relations between the Koreas have plunged as North Korea has expanded its weapons programs amid a hard-line stance by Moon’s conservative predecessors.

Last year, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and test-launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles as part of its push to possess a nuclear missile capable of reaching anywhere in the United States. The North was subsequently hit with toughened U.N. sanctions, and Kim and President Donald Trump exchanged warlike rhetoric and crude personal insults against each other.

Kim said in his speech Monday that North Korea last year achieved the historic feat of “completing” its nuclear forces. Outside experts say that it’s only a matter of time before the North acquires the ability to hurl nuclear weapons at the mainland U.S., but that the country still has a few technologies to master, such as a warhead’s ability to survive atmospheric re-entry.

Talks could provide a temporary thaw in strained inter-Korean ties, but conservative critics worry that they may only earn the North time to perfect its nuclear weapons. After the Olympics, inter-Korean ties could become frosty again because the North has made it clear it has no intention of accepting international calls for nuclear disarmament and instead wants to bolster its weapons arsenal in the face of what it considers increasing U.S. threats.

“Kim Jong-un’s strategy remains the same. He’s developing nukes while trying to weaken international pressure and the South Korea-U.S. military alliance and get international sanctions lifted,” said Shin Beomchul of the Seoul-based Korea National Diplomatic Academy.

He said the North might also be using its potential Olympic participation as a chance to show its nuclear program is not intended to pose a threat to regional peace.

In his address Monday, Kim said the United States should be aware that his country’s nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat. He said he has a “nuclear button” on his office desk, warning that “the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike.”

He called for improved ties and a relaxation of military tensions with South Korea, saying the Winter Olympics could showcase the status of the Korean nation. But Kim also repeated that South Korea must stop annual military exercises with the United States, which he calls an invasion rehearsal against the North.

About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea to help deter potential aggression from the North, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.</s>Children pose in front of an electric board that shows the number of days left until the opening of 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games as the official mascots, a white tiger “Soohorang” for the Olympic, left, and black bear “Bandabi” for the Paralympic, are displayed in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. South Korea on Tuesday offered high-level talks with rival North Korea to find ways to cooperate on next month’s Winter Olympics in the South. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korea on Tuesday offered high-level talks with rival North Korea to find ways to co-operate on next month’s Winter Olympics in the South. Seoul’s quick proposal following a rare rapprochement overture from the North a day earlier offers the possibility of better ties after a year that saw a nuclear standoff increase fear of war on the Korean Peninsula.

In a closely watched New Year’s address, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Monday that he was willing to send a delegation to the Olympics, though he also repeated fiery nuclear threats against the United States. Analysts say Kim may be trying to drive a wedge between Seoul and its ally Washington in a bid to reduce international isolation and sanctions against North Korea.

Kim’s overture was welcome news for a South Korean government led by liberal President Moon Jae-in, who favours dialogue to ease the North’s nuclear threats and wants to use the Pyeongchang Olympics as a chance to improve inter-Korean ties.

Moon’s unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, proposed in a nationally televised news conference that the two Koreas meet Jan. 9 at the shared border village of Panmunjom to discuss Olympic co-operation and how to improve overall ties.

Earlier Tuesday, Moon spoke of what he described as Kim’s positive response to his earlier dialogue overtures and ordered officials to study how to restore talks with North Korea and get the North to participate in the Olympics.

North Korea did not immediately react. But if there are talks, they would be the first formal dialogue between the Koreas since December 2015. Relations between the Koreas have plunged as North Korea has expanded its weapons programs amid a hard-line stance by Moon’s conservative predecessors.

Last year, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and test-launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles as part of its push to possess a nuclear missile capable of reaching anywhere in the United States. The North was subsequently hit with toughened U.N. sanctions, and Kim and President Donald Trump exchanged warlike rhetoric and crude personal insults against each other.

Kim said in his speech Monday that North Korea last year achieved the historic feat of “completing” its nuclear forces. Outside experts say that it’s only a matter of time before the North acquires the ability to hurl nuclear weapons at the mainland U.S., but that the country still has a few technologies to master, such as a warhead’s ability to survive atmospheric re-entry.

Talks could provide a temporary thaw in strained inter-Korean ties, but conservative critics worry that they may only earn the North time to perfect its nuclear weapons. After the Olympics, inter-Korean ties could become frosty again because the North has made it clear it has no intention of accepting international calls for nuclear disarmament and instead wants to bolster its weapons arsenal in the face of what it considers increasing U.S. threats.

“Kim Jong Un’s strategy remains the same. He’s developing nukes while trying to weaken international pressure and the South Korea-U.S. military alliance and get international sanctions lifted,” said Shin Beomchul of the Seoul-based Korea National Diplomatic Academy.

He said the North might also be using its potential participation in the Pyeongchang Olympics as a chance to show its nuclear program is not intended to pose a threat to regional peace.

In his address Monday, Kim said the United States should be aware that his country’s nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat. He said he has a “nuclear button” on his office desk, warning that “the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike.”

He called for improved ties and a relaxation of military tensions with South Korea, saying the Winter Olympics could showcase the status of the Korean nation. But Kim also repeated that South Korea must stop annual military exercises with the United States, which he calls an invasion rehearsal against the North.

About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea to help deter potential aggression from the North, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>Liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-In ran on a platform that emphasized reaching out to North Korea for peace talks.

Moon’s hopes were quickly dashed by North Korea’s escalating nuclear and missile tests, and his leftist government is in trouble with its base for providing enthusiastic lip service to the hard line response to the threat from U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Now the South Korean leader is said to view the upcoming Winter Olympic Games as a new opportunity to reach out to Pyongyang.

Seoul welcomed a Jan. 1 proposal by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to send a delegation to the games. Seoul will host the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang from Feb. 9-25.

“We welcome that Kim expressed willingness to send a delegation and proposed talks as he acknowledged the need for improvement in inter-Korean ties,” South Korean presidential office spokesman Park Soo-Hyun told a press briefing.

“The successful launch of the games will contribute to stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in East Asia and the rest of the world.”

In a televised message on Jan. 1, Kim Jong-Un said he may send a delegation to the games and is open to talks with the South. But he also made it clear that Pyongyang would not give up its nuclear and missile programs, and he claimed that a “nuclear button” is always on his desk.

Related: Seoul’s peace pitch to North: Stop with the provocations and we’ll come up for talks, August 10, 2017

Lee Hee-Beom, head of the organizing committee for PyeongChang 2018, said it was “a positive sign” that North Korea had showed its willingness to take part in the first Winter Games to take place in South Korea.

“Our organizing committee has already been making preparations for North Korea’s participation,” Lee said. “All the processes for the North Korean delegation’s accommodation and transportation are in place.”

North Korea had a figure skating pairs duo of Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-Sik qualify for a spot in PyeongChang, but its national skating body missed an Oct. 30 deadline to submit their entry for the Olympics. North Korea also had an outside chance at qualifying in short track speed skating but skipped the final qualifying competition, held in Seoul last month.

North Korea can still send athletes to select events if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) grants the country some wild card spots.

“The basic principle for the IOC is that North Korea can compete in any event it wishes,” Lee said. “North Korea won’t be able to send athletes in every sport, but I expect it to have representation in figure skating, short track and cross-country skiing.”

Lee also mentioned women’s hockey as a potential event for North Korea.

Pyongyang may assess that its participation is an act to “help” the South, according to a report by the South’s state-run Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS).

“In exchange for that, it cannot be ruled out that it would demand Seoul lift economic sanctions against it and resume economic cooperative projects and humanitarian aid,” the report said.

Seoul has imposed unilateral sanctions over the North’s nuclear and missile tests and also banned inter-Korean exchanges to punish the North for the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010. The South also closed an inter-Korean industrial complex in the North’s border city of Kaesong in 2016.

“The North is likely to give weight to participation (in the Winter Olympics), but it is expected to make a final decision in tandem with the South’s attitude,” INNS added.

The report said that, at future talks with the South, the North could demand the suspension of military drills between the South and the U.S. as well as Washington’s stopping the regular deployment of its strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula.

“Pyongyang could call for such conditions when it opens talks with Seoul over the Olympics, a move aimed at taking an upper hand in inter-Korean ties,” the INNS report said.

The INNS said that the Kim Jong-Un regime will likely refrain from provocations at least until the opening of the Winter Games.

“But it also cannot be ruled out that the North could resume provocative acts if Seoul and Washington resume their joint military drills after the games,” it said.

The INNS added that Pyongyang could focus on putting nuclear weapons and missiles into operational deployment, rather that carrying out additional testing.

Login To Your FaceBook to Make Comments</s>Seemingly following through on earlier hints of dialogue with South Korea, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has ordered to reopen the border hotline with Seoul for negotiations, according to a televised statement.

The discussions will focus on sending North Korean athletes to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics which will kick off in South Korea next month, according to the statement issued by an unnamed Northern official.

The North will open dialogue at 7:00am GMT (3:00 pm Pyongyang time) at the shared border village of Panmunjom, the statement said as cited by Yonhap.

Kim Jong-un had said he was open to talks with Seoul in his New Year address, saying the two Koreas should "lower the military tensions on the Korean Peninsula to create a peaceful environment." Kim added that efforts should be made by “both the North and the South."

Seoul's presidential office welcomed the reconciliatory message, and the unification minister suggested holding talks next week in the demilitarized zone along the inter-Korean border.

There has been no inter-Korean communication since February 2016, when Pyongyang cut the channels in protest at Seoul’s closing down of a joint industrial complex which employed North Koreans.</s>"The call has been made between the South and North’s liaison officers in Panmunjom," the official said.

According to the news agency, the phone call took place at 15:30 local time [06:30 GMT]. The two sides confirmed that the telephone and fax machines were operating normally.

No further details regarding the phone call have been provided.

Earlier in the day, a high-ranking North Korean official said that the country’s leader Kim Jong-un had ordered to reopen a contact channel between Pyongyang and Seoul to discuss issues related to the upcoming Olympic games in Pyeongchang.

READ MORE: 'I Have Bigger Button': Trump's Tweets Threaten to Derail Korean Talks — Analyst

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</s>After a year of threats and weapons advances, North Korea's leader appears to be using the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in South Korea as a tool to blunt growing international pressure on his regime while leaving his nuclear arsenal untouched.

SEOUL/WASHINGTON: After a year of threats and weapons advances, North Korea's leader appears to be using the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in South Korea as a tool to blunt growing international pressure on his regime while leaving his nuclear arsenal untouched.

Kim Jong Un, in his annual New Year's Day speech, called for reduced tensions on the Korean peninsula and flagged the North's possible participation in the Games next month, just across the border in Pyeongchang.

South Korea has been eager to involve North Korea to ensure the Games are not disrupted by any further nuclear or missile tests and as a way of re-establishing dialogue with the reclusive state.

Analysts say Kim's gambit is aimed at driving a wedge between Seoul and Washington, which has advocated a strategy of maximum pressure and insisted that all options, including military ones, are on the table.

But the move also targets the broader international consensus involving major players China, Russia and Japan that has tightened sanctions and deepened isolation for North Korea in recent months.

"A major part of the Kim family playbook is to exploit and to widen the divergences in the interests, in the first instance between the U.S. and South Korea, but more broadly among the five major neighbours," said Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia until last April and now at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

North Korea has long followed such a strategy of intense provocations followed by conciliatory phases aimed at exposing rifts, he said.

"This is a classic united we stand, divided we fall situation," Russel said. "It’s always easier to maintain five party solidarity when North Korea is behaving badly."

U.S. President Donald Trump has led a drive to step up global sanctions on North Korea as it seeks to develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

Washington says the full cooperation of China, Russia and other countries is vital to the success of this effort, which includes significant restrictions on trade and other ties with North Korea.

China, which remains North Korea's major partner, has curtailed trade in line with United Nations sanctions, but Washington has called for it to do more to isolate Pyongyang.

South Korea's government publicly welcomed Kim's overture, and President Moon Jae-in has pushed to ease tensions ahead of the Games by postponing joint military drills with American troops until after the Olympics.

Moon also said on Tuesday the improvement of inter-Korean ties was linked to resolving North Korea's nuclear programme.

The White House has yet to make a detailed response. However, powerful Senator Lindsey Graham suggested the United States would boycott the Games if North Korea attends.

"Allowing Kim Jong Un’s North Korea to participate in Winter Olympics would give legitimacy to the most illegitimate regime on the planet," Graham said on Twitter. "I’m confident South Korea will reject this absurd overture and fully believe that if North Korea goes to the Winter Olympics, we do not."

Graham unsuccessfully called for a boycott of the previous Winter Olympics in Sochi over Russia's granting of asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

The spectacle of North Korean athletes and officials participating in Olympic events may create some awkward moments for international leaders who have spent months painting the country as a pariah state, said Robert Kelly, a professor at South Korea's Pusan National University.

"It puts the South Koreans in a weird position because it potentially creates tension between U.S. and Japan who have gone to lengths to isolate the regime," he said.

Japan's relationship with South Korea is already seen as under some strain, with one former Japanese diplomat saying Tokyo was suffering from "fatigue" with Seoul and lacking confidence in Moon.

Still, analysts were sceptical Kim's gambit would do lasting damage to the alliance between Seoul and Washington, or to the international push for sanctions.

"I doubt that there will be a substantial reversal in global economic and political isolation measures in the near term," said Scott Snyder, director of U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.

At the heart of analysts' scepticism is Kim's apparent lack of appetite for compromise on the main points of nuclear weapons, missile testing, or human rights.

"Participation in things like the Olympics are pseudo-concessions, because the North doesn’t actually have to give up anything," Kelly said.

In his speech, Kim vowed he would spend 2018 "mass-producing nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles" to "give a spur to the efforts for deploying them for action."

That means further missile tests are almost certain, with more focus on "realistic" exercises than developmental tests, said Joshua Pollack, a senior researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California.

"The major theme here for strategic forces is shifting from development to serial production, deployment, and increased readiness," he said.

If the United States wants to take advantage of any possible easing in tensions, it needs to drop its demands for a halt in testing as a precondition for talks, said Leon Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project in New York.

"The most important reciprocal step would be to scale back - not (just) postpone - the spring joint exercises," he said. "Failure to try these steps will only ensure that unbridled North Korean weapons development continues."</s>Moon's unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, proposed in a nationally televised news conference that the two Koreas meet Jan. 9 at the shared border village of Panmunjom to discuss Olympic cooperation and how to improve overall ties.

Earlier Tuesday, Moon spoke of what he described as Kim's positive response to his earlier dialogue overtures and ordered officials to study how to restore talks with North Korea and get the North to participate in the Olympics.

North Korea did not immediately react. But if there are talks, they would be the first formal dialogue between the Koreas since December 2015. Relations between the Koreas have plunged as North Korea has expanded its weapons programs amid a hard-line stance by Moon's conservative predecessors.

Last year, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and test-launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles as part of its push to possess a nuclear missile capable of reaching anywhere in the United States. The North was subsequently hit with toughened U.N. sanctions, and Kim and President Donald Trump exchanged warlike rhetoric and crude personal insults against each other.

Kim said in his speech Monday that North Korea last year achieved the historic feat of "completing" its nuclear forces. Outside experts say that it's only a matter of time before the North acquires the ability to hurl nuclear weapons at the mainland U.S., but that the country still has a few technologies to master, such as a warhead's ability to survive atmospheric re-entry.

Talks could provide a temporary thaw in strained inter-Korean ties, but conservative critics worry that they may only earn the North time to perfect its nuclear weapons. After the Olympics, inter-Korean ties could become frosty again because the North has made it clear it has no intention of accepting international calls for nuclear disarmament and instead wants to bolster its weapons arsenal in the face of what it considers increasing U.S. threats.

"Kim Jong Un's strategy remains the same. He's developing nukes while trying to weaken international pressure and the South Korea-U.S. military alliance and get international sanctions lifted," said Shin Beomchul of the Seoul-based Korea National Diplomatic Academy.

He said the North might also be using its potential participation in the Pyeongchang Olympics as a chance to show its nuclear program is not intended to pose a threat to regional peace.

In his address Monday, Kim said the United States should be aware that his country's nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat. He said he has a "nuclear button" on his office desk, warning that "the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike."

He called for improved ties and a relaxation of military tensions with South Korea, saying the Winter Olympics could showcase the status of the Korean nation. But Kim also repeated that South Korea must stop annual military exercises with the United States, which he calls an invasion rehearsal against the North.

About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea to help deter potential aggression from the North, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.</s>Children pose in front of an electric board that shows the number of days left until the opening of 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games as the official mascots, a white tiger “Soohorang” for the Olympic, left, and black bear “Bandabi” for the Paralympic, are displayed in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. South Korea on Tuesday offered high-level talks with rival North Korea to find ways to cooperate on next month’s Winter Olympics in the South. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korea on Tuesday offered high-level talks with rival North Korea to find ways to co-operate on next month’s Winter Olympics in the South. Seoul’s quick proposal following a rare rapprochement overture from the North a day earlier offers the possibility of better ties after a year that saw a nuclear standoff increase fear of war on the Korean Peninsula.

In a closely watched New Year’s address, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Monday that he was willing to send a delegation to the Olympics, though he also repeated fiery nuclear threats against the United States. Analysts say Kim may be trying to drive a wedge between Seoul and its ally Washington in a bid to reduce international isolation and sanctions against North Korea.

Kim’s overture was welcome news for a South Korean government led by liberal President Moon Jae-in, who favours dialogue to ease the North’s nuclear threats and wants to use the Pyeongchang Olympics as a chance to improve inter-Korean ties.

Moon’s unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, proposed in a nationally televised news conference that the two Koreas meet Jan. 9 at the shared border village of Panmunjom to discuss Olympic co-operation and how to improve overall ties.

Earlier Tuesday, Moon spoke of what he described as Kim’s positive response to his earlier dialogue overtures and ordered officials to study how to restore talks with North Korea and get the North to participate in the Olympics.

North Korea did not immediately react. But if there are talks, they would be the first formal dialogue between the Koreas since December 2015. Relations between the Koreas have plunged as North Korea has expanded its weapons programs amid a hard-line stance by Moon’s conservative predecessors.

Last year, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and test-launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles as part of its push to possess a nuclear missile capable of reaching anywhere in the United States. The North was subsequently hit with toughened U.N. sanctions, and Kim and President Donald Trump exchanged warlike rhetoric and crude personal insults against each other.

Kim said in his speech Monday that North Korea last year achieved the historic feat of “completing” its nuclear forces. Outside experts say that it’s only a matter of time before the North acquires the ability to hurl nuclear weapons at the mainland U.S., but that the country still has a few technologies to master, such as a warhead’s ability to survive atmospheric re-entry.

Talks could provide a temporary thaw in strained inter-Korean ties, but conservative critics worry that they may only earn the North time to perfect its nuclear weapons. After the Olympics, inter-Korean ties could become frosty again because the North has made it clear it has no intention of accepting international calls for nuclear disarmament and instead wants to bolster its weapons arsenal in the face of what it considers increasing U.S. threats.

“Kim Jong Un’s strategy remains the same. He’s developing nukes while trying to weaken international pressure and the South Korea-U.S. military alliance and get international sanctions lifted,” said Shin Beomchul of the Seoul-based Korea National Diplomatic Academy.

He said the North might also be using its potential participation in the Pyeongchang Olympics as a chance to show its nuclear program is not intended to pose a threat to regional peace.

In his address Monday, Kim said the United States should be aware that his country’s nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat. He said he has a “nuclear button” on his office desk, warning that “the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike.”

He called for improved ties and a relaxation of military tensions with South Korea, saying the Winter Olympics could showcase the status of the Korean nation. But Kim also repeated that South Korea must stop annual military exercises with the United States, which he calls an invasion rehearsal against the North.

About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea to help deter potential aggression from the North, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>South Korea has offered talks with North Korea after Kim Jong Un said he was open to negotiations - but would push ahead with "mass producing" nuclear warheads.

The development came as the United States warned it was hearing reports North Korea might be preparing for another missile test, claiming that it would lead to tougher measures against Pyongyang.

The offer for high-level talks next Tuesday had been discussed with the US, the South's unification minister said.

A decision on whether to push back a massive joint military drill between South Korea and the United States until after the Winter Olympics was pending.

Tension has been rising over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, which it pursues in defiance of years of UN Security Council resolutions, with bellicose rhetoric coming from both Pyongyang and the White House.

The North sees the regular war drills between the South and the United States as preparations for war.

"We look forward to candidly discussing interests from both sides face-to-face with North Korea along with the North's participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics," Unification Minister Cho Myong-gyon told reporters.

"I repeat: The government is open to talking with North Korea, regardless of time, location and form."

Cho said he expects the dialogue at the border village of Panmunjom, if it happens, to be focused on North Korea's participation at the Olympics in February, but other issues would likely arise, including the de-nuclearisation of North Korea.

Should the talks be held on Jan. 9, it would be the first such dialogue since a vice-ministerial meeting in December 2015.

The offer landed after a New Year's Day speech by Kim who said he was "open to dialogue" with Seoul, and for North Korean athletes to possibly take part in the Winter Games, but he persistently declared North Korea a nuclear power.

At the United Nations in New York, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said: "We hear reports that North Korea might be preparing for another missile test," she said.

"I hope that doesn't happen. But if it does, we must bring even tougher measures to bear against the North Korean regime."

After welcoming Kim's address, South Korean President Moon Jae-in had asked his government earlier in the day to move as quickly as possible to bring North Korea to the Olympics.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the recent positive comments from both sides about improving relations, and Kim's remarks about participating in the upcoming Olympics, were a "good thing".

"China welcomes and supports North Korea and South Korea taking earnest efforts to treat this as an opportunity to improve mutual relations, promote the alleviation of the situation on the Korean peninsula and realize denuclearisation on the peninsula."

Trump said today sanctions and other pressures were starting to have a big impact on North Korea but he withheld judgment on Pyongyang's offer to talk.

"Rocket Man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time," Trump wrote in a Twitter post, using his nickname for Kim.

"Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not - we will see!"

Analysts said Kim's address was an attempt to weaken the U.S.-South Korean alliance.

Chun Yung-woo, a former South Korean national security adviser, said Seoul should have taken more time before reacting to Kim's comments.

"I regret the government had even lost the flexibility to spend one day or two taking a deep breath and meticulously analysing Kim Jong Un's ulterior motive before hastily issuing a welcoming statement," he said.

"The government will have to strive more to come up with a countermeasure not to get caught in a trap set by Kim Jong Un."

Kim said in a New Year's Day speech on Monday he would consider sending a delegation to the Olympics.

"North Korea's participation in the Winter Games will be a good opportunity to showcase the national pride and we wish the Games will be a success.

Officials from the two Koreas may urgently meet to discuss the possibility," Kim said.

North Korea would focus in 2018 on "mass-producing nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles for operational deployment".

"The whole territory of the US is within the range of our nuclear strike and a nuclear button is always on the desk of my office and this is just a reality, not a threat," he said, while emphasising that the weapons would only be used if North Korea was threatened.</s>South Korea on Tuesday offered high-level talks with rival North Korea to find ways to cooperate on next month's Winter Olympics in the South. Seoul's quick proposal after a rare rapprochement overture from Pyongyang a day earlier offers the possibility of better ties after a year that saw a nuclear standoff increase fear of war on the Korean Peninsula.

In a closely watched New Year's address, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Monday he's willing to send a delegation to the Olympics, though he also repeated nuclear threats against the United States. Analysts say Kim may be trying to drive a wedge between Seoul and its ally Washington as a way to ease international isolation and sanctions against North Korea.

Kim's overture was welcome news for a South Korean government led by liberal President Moon Jae-in, who favors dialogue to ease the North's nuclear threats and wants to use the Olympics as a chance to improve inter-Korean ties.

Moon's unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, proposed in a nationally televised news conference that the two Koreas meet Jan. 9 at the shared border village of Panmunjom to discuss Olympic cooperation and how to improve overall ties.

Earlier Tuesday, Moon spoke of Kim's positive response to earlier South Korean dialogue overtures and ordered officials to study how to restore talks with North Korea and get the North to participate in the Olympics.

North Korea hasn't immediately reacted. But if there are talks, they would be the first formal dialogue between the Koreas since December 2015.

Relations between the Koreas have plunged as North Korea under Kim expanded its weapons programs amid a hard-line stance by Moon's conservative predecessors. Last year, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and test-launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles as part of its push to possess a nuclear missile capable of reaching anywhere in the United States. The North was subsequently hit with toughened U.N. sanctions, and Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump exchanged warlike rhetoric and crude personal insults against each other.

Possible inter-Korean talks could provide a temporary thaw in strained inter-Korean ties, but could also weaken U.S.-led international pressure on the North. After the Olympics, inter-Korean ties could become frosty again because North Korea has made it clear that it has no intention of accepting international calls for nuclear disarmament and instead wants to bolster its weapons arsenal in the face of what it calls increasing U.S. threats.

In his address Monday, Kim said the United States should be aware that his country's nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat. He said he has a "nuclear button" on his office desk, warning that "the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike."

He called for improved ties and a relaxation of military tensions with South Korea, saying the Winter Olympics could showcase the status of the Korean nation. But Kim still said South Korea must stop annual military exercises with the United States, which he calls an invasion rehearsal against the North.

The New Year's address is an annual event in North Korea and is watched closely for indications of the direction and priorities Kim may adopt in the year ahead.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, responding to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's offer during his New Year’s Day address, proposes a meeting to discuss the Winter Olympics and North Korea's nuclear program next Tuesday at the border city of Panmunjom.