South Korea on Thursday formally proposed to North Korea to hold high-level military talks as agreed at the recent inter-Korean Cabinet meeting.

In a regular news briefing, Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said his ministry sent the message to the North Thursday morning, but declined to comment on the proposed date for the talks.

The unification minister's remarks came after the two Koreas agreed to resume high-level military talks to ease tensions on the peninsula on the last day of the 13th round of Cabinet-level talks last Friday.

The two sides held their first and only ministerial-level defense talks in September 2000, following the landmark inter-Korean summit earlier that year.

The South Korean Defense Ministry said Monday the proposed high-level inter-Korean military talks would likely focus on how to avoid naval skirmishes that occasionally occur off the disputed western sea border separating the two countries.