South Korean President Moon Jae-in offered few words on inter-Korean relations in his New Year's Speech on Thursday but remained upbeat on their prospects, coming a day after North Korea's first-in-an-era cold shoulder towards the topic in a January 1st speech.

Such silence between the two Koreas on New Year's Day is unprecedented since Kim Jong Un came to power. Until last year, all of Kim's New Year Address consistently mentioned inter-Korean relations at length, while Moon, in his speeches, has discussed the issue of denuclearization directly.