DPRK offers talks with ROK about art troupe's dispatch to Winter Olympics

SEOUL -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) offered to the Republic of Korea (ROK) to hold talks about the dispatch of its art troupe to the 2018 Winter Olympics, Seoul's unification ministry said Saturday.

The DPRK proposed to ROK holding a working-level dialogue on Jan 15 in Tongilgak, a building controlled by the DPRK in the truce village of Panmunjom, to discuss the dispatch of its art troupe to the ROK-hosted Winter Olympics.

The proposal letter was sent to the ROK's side through the restored hotline of direct dialogue in Panmunjom, which straddles the heavily guarded inter-Korean land border.

It was a counterproposal to ROK's offer on Friday to hold working-level talks on Jan 15 at the Peace House in the ROK's side of Panmunjom to discuss the dispatch of all delegations from the DPRK, including the art group.

The DPRK said it will notify ROK of its proposed schedules for working-level dialogues about other issues such as the dispatch of athletes and cheering squads.

On Tuesday, the two Koreas held senior-level talks in Panmunjom, the first high-level dialogue between the two Koreas in about two years, agreeing that the DPRK will join the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games slated to run from February to March in ROK's eastern county of Pyeongchang.