The Democratic People's Republic of Korea seems to have taken a U-turn from its belligerent rhetoric after the United Nations imposed sanctions on it for conducting its third nuclear test and launching a satellite.

Although earlier it had lashed out at the joint military drills between the United States and the Republic of Korea, on Sunday the DPRK proposed talks with the US. The US has responded by saying it is open to talks.

The other major development will be the strategic dialogue between China and the DPRK on Wednesday, to be followed later by trilateral talks among the ROK, Japan and the US on how to deal with the DPRK.