TASS, January 7. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in his address to the nation that conditions must be formed for normalization of relations with South Korea, KCNA news agency reported on Sunday.

"The head of the nation clearly stated that our country needs to stick to the policy, which will lead to the breakthrough of the all-sufficient unification," the agency said. "It is not worth stirring up the past and recalling the specifics of relations with Seoul. Instead of this, relations between the North and South must be improved."

According to KCNA, it is high time to unite efforts of the Korean people to put an end to escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

"It is not only about the normalization of the inter-Korean relations, but about the reconciliation of the nation and its free-will unification," the agency added.

On Wednesday, South Korea and North Korea restored the line of a special communication in the village of Panmunjom on the border.

On Friday, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification announced that Pyongyang had accepted the proposal of Seoul to hold high-level talks for the first time since December 2015.

The talks are expected to take place on January 9 in Panmunjom. The parties are expected to discuss possible participation of the North Korean national team in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang.