N Korea again proposes S Korea to start bilateral talks.

TOKYO, January 8 (Itar-Tass) -- North Korea on Saturday again
officially proposed South Korea to start bilateral talks as soon as
possible to settle the situation on the Korean Peninsula. It is said in a
statement of the DPRK Committee on the peaceful reunification. Pyongyang
offers to start bilateral negotiations without preconditions in late
January-early February.
"We formally offer to start negotiations between the administration of
the North and the South," said the statement. "South Korean authorities
should drop all doubts and with the open heart to meet halfway our
proposal." According to the statement, the DPRK proposes to hold bilateral
talks in the border city of Kaesong (North Korea) in late January-early
February.
This is the second such proposal from North Korea this week. South
Korea reacted coolly to the similar step taken by the North on January 5 -
official Seoul insists that Pyongyang first demonstrate commitment to hold
peace talks of both Koreas and acknowledge responsibility for the military
provocations of the last year, which caused casualties.
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