North Korea and South Korea set to hold talks on January 9

KEY POINTS

• The two countries are scheduled to hold talks on January 9

North Korea has reportedly accepted South Korea's offer for talks on January 9, the latest event in a significant week for inter-Korean relations.

Citing Seoul's Unification Ministry, Reuters said on Friday that bilateral discussions will focus on the Winter Olympics as well as "other issues of mutual interest."

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is seen during the inspection of a potato flour factory in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang December 6, 2017.

KCNA | Reuters

South Korean President Moon Jae-In's administration on Tuesday offered high-level talks to its northern neighbor even as Pyongyang and Washington began the New Year with fresh hostile rhetoric.

And on Wednesday, the pariah state reopened its cross-border communications channel with its southern neighbor for the first time in almost two years. President Donald Trump has since claimed it was his tough rhetoric against North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un that resulted in fresh dialogue.

Expectations for inter-Korean dialogue rose after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Monday that he was open to sending a delegation to the upcoming Winter Olympics in the South Korean city of PyeongChang.