The Supreme People's Assembly sent the South's parliament a letter on Wednesday suggesting dialogue to defuse the "acute situation" on the peninsula and end the current "grave" state of affairs, the North's news agency said.

The two sides are due to meet next Tuesday for working-level military talks, their first contact since the North's deadly bombardment of a South Korean border island on November 23.

The North said it was "quite natural" for legislators to meet, in addition to the military dialogue.

Relations have been icy since the South in May accused the North of torpedoing a warship with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it denied.

The shelling of the island, which killed two marines and two civilians, briefly sparked fears of war. But in a change of tack since the start of the new year, Pyongyang has made numerous calls for dialogue between various bodies.

The inter-parliamentary talks were first suggested last week but the South said at the time the proposal lacked sincerity.

Next Tuesday's meeting at the border village of Panmunjom is intended to prepare for high-level military contacts, possibly at defence minister level.

However, South Korea says it will demand that its neighbour take "responsible measures" over last year's attacks and pledge not to repeat them, as a precondition for any high-level meeting.

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