The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the US-led United Nations Command (UNC) are holding military talks on Monday morning in a bid to ease the tension on the Korean Peninsula, the UNC said in a news release.

According to the news release, the general-level talks began at 10 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) at the truce village of Panmunjom.

The DPRK side requested the meeting to discuss tension reduction on the Korean Peninsula, the news release said.

The United Nations Command sees the DPRK request for these general officer level talks to start again as "positive", it said. "These talks can be useful in building trust and preventing misunderstanding as well as introducing transparency regarding the intentions of both sides."

It was the first time for the two sides to hold general-level military talks since 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2009)