South Korea Offers Talks With North Ahead Of Olympics

South Korea has offered the North high-level talks in hopes of finding a way to cooperate on the Winter Olympics set to begin in the South next month.

This comes just after Kim Jong Un New Year's address, where he said he is willing to send a delegation to the Olympics.

He also said he wants improved ties and a relaxation of military tensions with South Korea, saying the Winter Olympics could showcase the status of the Korean nation.

South Korean Unification Minster Cho Myoung-gyon said the South proposes the two Koreas meet on January 9 at the border village of Panmunjom to discuss Olympic cooperation and how to improve overall ties.

However, analysts argued that this could be Kim's way of driving a wedge between Seoul and Washington.

North Korea last year conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and test-launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles as part of its push to possess a nuclear missile capable of reaching anywhere in the United States.

This was also addressed in Kim Jong Un New Year's speech. Kim said that the United States should be aware that his country's nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat. He said he has a "nuclear button" on his office desk.