North Korea has proposed to discuss matters surrounding the Incheon Asian Games by exchanging letters with South Korea.  
 
Seoul's Unification Ministry said Friday that delegates from the North's National Olympic Committee visiting South Korea for the group drawings for the Asian Games presented a letter from Pyongyang with the proposal. The letter was signed by the committee's vice chairman Son Kwang-ho.
 
The Unification Ministry said it will accept the North's proposed negotiation through an exchange of letters.
 
A ministry official said that Pyongyang also noted some of the issues that should be discussed in the negotiations, but said the content cannot be disclosed, as the two Koreas will be discussing the points.
 
The ministry added that the North also said in the letter that it would send a 273-member squad to the Asian Games.
 
The number is 80 fewer than the 350 previously expected. However, the number of athletes is believed to be the same, as the cuts are likely to have been made on officials and referees.
 
Regarding the talks on how the South will support the North Korean squad, the ministry said it will negotiate the matter based on international practices and inter-Korean precedents.