North Korea Calls For Better Ties With Seoul

North Korea welcomed the new year today with a push for better ties with South Korea, warning that a war between the two nations "will bring nothing but a nuclear holocaust."

In its annual New Year's message, Pyongyang called for a Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons, but also said its military was ready for "prompt, merciless, and annihilatory action" against its "enemies."

North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests since 2006, and its holiday message comes in the wake of its November artillery attack on a Southern island near the countries' disputed sea border and a torpedo strike on a South Korean warship in March.

compiled from agency reports