Former Unification Minister Chung Se-hyun said Friday that an inter-Korean summit will help improve strained South-North relations if it takes place this year.

Chung, who now co-chairs the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, made the remark on a KBS One Radio talk show, adding that opposition parties should not blindly rule out an inter-Korean summit.

He said that Seoul should seek a summit more actively in order to improve relations with Pyongyang under the next administration.

Regarding the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Chung said he thinks there is a growing possibility that significant progress will be made in the upcoming next round of talks.

He called a bilateral contact between the United States and North Korea in Berlin last week a “good sign," noting that a breakthrough for the 1993 North Korean nuclear crisis was made through a direct Pyongyang-Washington contact.