The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sunday urged again South Korea to "positively" respond to its proposal for resuming the inter-Korean dialogue, saying the offer was a "decisive measure to overcome the current difficulty and open the new phase of reunification" of Korea.

Kim Yong Jin, president of the Education Committee of the DPRK, said the inter-Korean relations had been deteriorated to a degree as a result of artillery firing. To guarantee peace on the Korean Peninsula, the two sides must make greater efforts to change "distrust and confrontation" to "trust and reconciliation" and dialogue was the only way to achieve that goal.

Kim Wan Su, director of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Front for Democratic Unification of Korea, said the Korean Peninsula remained on the brink of war. So dialogue between the two sides was an urgent issue that admits no delay.

He added that both sides must reopen the dialogue right now without preconditions, as dialogue was the best way to ease tensions, improve inter-Korean relations and create a path to reunification.

The DPRK government, political parties and social organizations on Wednesday issued a joint statement to propose dialogue with South Korea to discuss openly the way to clear up misunderstandings and distrust so as to maintain peace and achieve prosperity.

In a statement released on Saturday, the DPRK Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea proposed that both sides resume at an early date Red Cross talks, talks for the resumption of tour of Mt. Kumgang and the talks for Kaesong Industrial Zone.