S.Korea to seek talks with DPRK to facilitate DPRK-U.S. dialogue: unification ministry

South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean relations said Tuesday that it will seek talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to facilitate a dialogue between the DPRK and the United States.

The ministry said in its 2019 work plan, submitted to the presidential Blue House, that it will push for inter-Korean talks, through which Seoul can help facilitate the dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

It noted that South Korea will intensify the virtuous cycle of improved inter-Korean relations leading to progress in the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization.

The work plan came as the second DPRK-U.S. summit in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi ended without any deal.

Following the Hanoi summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the continued talks between the DPRK and the United States would be the most important, indicating his willingness to find a compromise between Pyongyang and Washington.

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul said he will prepare for consultations with the United States to resume the two major inter-Korean cooperation projects -- the jointly run industrial zone in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong and the South Koreans' tour to the DPRK's Mount Kumgang resort that have been suspended since 2016 and 2008 each.

The ministry said in the work plan that South Korea will address key issues, including improved inter-Korean relations and the peninsula's denuclearization, through close communication between the leaders of the two Koreas.

It will also seek various inter-Korean talks, including higher-level and working-level dialogues and talks in the inter-Korean liaison office, which opened in September last year in Kaesong for the round-the-clock communication.