South Korean and North Korean flags
South Korean and North Korean flagsiStock

For the first time since 2015, South Korea suggested talks with North Korea. Those talks may not take place, however, since North Korea has yet to respond o their neighbor's offer.

The talks were to be scheduled for Friday, and held near the demilitarized border between the two countries.

Among other things, South Korea's Red Cross requested family members separated during the Korean War be allowed to reunite.

In a media briefing, South Korean Deputy Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk said, "We request military talks with the North on July 21 at Tongilgak to stop all hostile activities that raise military tension at the military demarcation line."

On Thursday, South Korea Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said, "We are still waiting for North Korea's official position. The administrative preparation for the talks from our side is in progress and going smoothly."

North Korea has not officially responded to the offer of talks, but a commentary by Ra Sol Ha published in their state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun said South Korea needs to "end its anti-North Korean confrontations and hostile practices" and called the proposal of talks "dangerous."

"South Korean authorities can only be viewed as nonsensical and acting deceptively towards the public by mentioning 'improving ties,' while they are still showing hostility and making confrontational attempts against North Korea," he wrote.

North Korea also said it will not engage in talks with South Korea unless the South returns 12 watiresses who defected to it last year. According to North Korea, the waitresses were abducted by South Korea. However, South Korea insists the women defected of their own free will.

On July 4, North Korea successfully tested an ICBM able to hit Alaska.

On July 5, North Korea's KCNA said, "Unless a fundamental end is put to the US hostile policy toward the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name) and the nuclear threat to it, the DPRK will never put the nuke and ballistic rocket on the negotiating table."