South Korea's unification minister asked North Korea on Monday to meet for high-level talks in January, as the North deals with troubles over a hacking showdown with the U.S. and pressures to improve its human rights record.

Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae, the south's official for North Korean affairs, announced he was willing to meet with his counterpart from the North in Seoul or Pyongyang for the talks.

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Ryoo said the South is willing to talk about any issues of mutual concern, adding a formal request for the talks had been sent to his counterpart in Pyongyang, Kim Yang-Gon.

One of the topics in the talks is the reunion of families torn apart by the Korean war six decades ago and other events to mark the 70th anniversary of North-South split in 1945, the minister said.

After the recent official high-level talks in February, the north hosted a rare reunion of families split by the Korean War.

Analysts said Pyongyang may have felt pushed to the wall by an ongoing online war with the U.S. over a hacking attack on Sony Pictures in November, which may have prompted the north to reach out to Seoul to defuse tensions.

Observers suggested that Kim Jong-un's New Year speech should be closely monitored to get a clue on whether the North seeks to improve relations with the South or not.

The isolated North has been grappling with a breakdown in Internet connections for the past week after President Barack Obama announced measures over a massive hacking attack on Sony, the studio that produced the film "The Interview."

Pyongyang called the comedy movie about a supposed plot to kill Kim "an act of war."

The FBI has announced that North Korea launched the attack on Sony. The north denied a hand in the hacking and blamed the US for closing its biggest Web sites.

TagsNorth Korea, Korean War, high-level talks