The presidential office said Monday that it has officially proposed a meeting between the president and ruling and opposition party leaders this week to discuss bipartisan efforts to deal with North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile provocations.

"Cheong Wa Dae has decided to push for the meeting with ruling and opposition party leaders Sept. 27," Park Soo-hyun, a spokesman for the presidential office told a press briefing.

The talks, if held, will be a chance to discuss bipartisan efforts on security issues, he added.

Park noted, however, that the date is subject to change depending on the availability of the political leaders.

Invitations to the meeting are extended to the chairpersons and floor leaders of the five major parties, including the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.
 

The other three parties are the splinter Bareun Party, the liberal People's Party and the progressive Justice Party.

The presidential office earlier said it would seek to arrange the meeting but did not say when it is likely to be held.

The proposed meeting follows Moon's trip to New York last week to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

During a weekly meeting with his top aides earlier in the day, the president stressed the need for the rival parties to join forces to deal with an "unprecedented security crisis" created by North Korea's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.

"As this unprecedented and tense security crisis continues to surround the Korean Peninsula, I ask for bipartisan support from the ruling and opposition parties, as well as the people, at least on this issue," Moon said, according to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.

He also renewed his proposal to establish a permanent and direct communication channel with the opposition parties.

"We need to gather our wisdom to jointly deal with the grave security condition and discuss ways to ensure productive politics by forming a standing consultation body between the ruling and opposition parties and the government," he said.

The ruling Democratic Party currently controls 121 seats in the unicameral parliament, the largest number of seats held by any single party but far short of a majority in the 300-seat parliament.

The main opposition LKP has 107 seats, while the four opposition parties that include the splinter conservative Bareun Party together control 173 parliamentary seats. (Yonhap)