UN chief welcomes dialogue between North, South Korea

UNITED NATIONS (Xinhua) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Saturday welcomed the high-level political dialogue that took place between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the margins of the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games.

"As the secretary-general has repeatedly emphasized, dialogue is the only way to resolve outstanding issues" said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesperson. "It is encouraging that the two parties agreed to hold another round of high-level talks soon."

In the statement, the UN chief also reiterated his hope that the parties concerned will continue to build positive momentum toward a peaceful and denuclearized Korean peninsula.

Three highest-ranking DPRK officials, including Hwang Pyong So, Choe Ryong Hae and Kim Yang Gon, arrived in the international airport of Incheon, the venue of the 17th Asian Games, earlier Saturday to attend the closing ceremony of the Asian Games.

The three officials held talks with their ROK counterparts, including top presidential security advisor Kim Kwan-jin and Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae.

The dialogue was the highest-level meeting between the two Koreas since ROK President Park Geun-hye took office in February 2013.

During the meeting, the officials agreed to hold the second round of high-level talks between late October and early November whenever ROK feels comfortable. Details on the second round of the talks will be discussed between working-level officials of the two countries.