SEOUL: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has invited the US envoy overseeing ties with the country to visit for nuclear talks next month, the Republic of Korea's (ROK) media said yesterday, reaching out to Washington as the United States pushes sanctions against Pyongyang.

The DPRK, which has made a series of rare conciliatory gestures this month, also agreed to hold talks with the ROK from today on resuming reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

Pyongyang stopped the reunions almost two years ago in anger at the hardline policies of the ROK's conservative government, which halted unconditional aid handouts and linked its largess to the DPRK ending its nuclear arms ambitions.