Seoul 'seeks secret talks with DPRK'

The Republic of Korea's (ROK) media reported yesterday that Seoul is seeking secret contacts with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to defuse escalating tensions on the peninsula. But officials in the ROK denied they were pursuing such talks.

The Yonhap news agency said the two sides have held secret talks and Pyongyang expressed a strong willingness to improve ties, which have sunk to their lowest point in years.

During the meeting, the DPRK proposed a deal to repatriate some ROK citizens - either taken prisoner during the peninsula's 1950-53 war or abducted after the conflict ended - in return for Seoul's resuming economic aid to the DPRK, Yonhap said.