1 January 2012
Last updated at 21:26 ET
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said a window of opportunity to improve ties was open
The Korean peninsula is at a “turning point” and there are opportunities for change, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in a new year speech.
He said Seoul would “respond strongly” if provoked by North Korea, with whom it remains technically at war.
But he said that the biggest goal was stability, and that aid-for-disarmament talks could resume if Pyongyang halted its nuclear activities.
On Sunday North Korea told citizens to defend leader Kim Jong-un to the death.
Kim Jong-un has succeeded his father, Kim Jong-il, who died on 17 December at the age of 69.
Tense relations
Kim Jong-il had ruled North Korea since the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994.
The impoverished and isolated communist country faces ongoing food shortages.
Under Kim Il-sung, state funds were channelled to the military and North Korea conducted two
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