North Korean Leader Asks South Korea For More Peace Talks

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has written to the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, calling for more summits to discuss peace on the peninsula.

While they have met three times this year, the two countries are technically still at war.

A spokesman for Mr Moon said Mr Kim also expressed regret that he could not make a visit to Seoul, South Korea's capital, by the end of December as pledged by the leaders during their last summit in September in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

Mr Moon later thanked Mr Kim for his "warm" letter in a tweeted message and said without elaborating that Mr Kim expressed strong willingness to carry out the agreements he made this year during a series of inter-Korean summits and a historic June meeting with President Donald Trump.

"There will still be a lot of difficulties ahead," Mr Moon said in his message.

"However, our hearts will become more open if we put in that much effort. There's no change in our heart about welcoming Chairman Kim (to the South)."

The tweet further showed the top part of Mr Kim's letter, which said: "Dear your excellency President Moon Jae-in. Our meeting in Pyongyang feels like yesterday but about 100 days have already passed and now we are at the close of an unforgettable 2018."

Through three summits between Mr Moon and Mr Kim this year, the Koreas agreed to a variety of goodwill gestures and vowed to resume economic cooperation when possible, voicing optimism that international sanctions could end to allow such activity.

They've also taken steps to reduce their conventional military threat, such as removing mines and firearms from the border village of Panmunjom, destroying some front-line guard posts and creating buffer zones along their land and sea boundaries and a no-fly zone above the border.

Mr Moon's spokesman, said in a televised briefing: "Chairman Kim said he will keep a close eye on the situation and expressed strong will to visit Seoul.

"Chairman Kim also expressed his intentions to meet President Moon frequently again in 2019 to advance discussions on the Korean Peninsula's peace and prosperity and discuss issues on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula." 

The letter comes days before Mr Kim is expected to address North Koreans in a New Year's speech that North Korean leaders traditionally use to announce major policy decisions and goals.