SEOUL - President Moon Jae In has invited leaders of the ruling and opposition parties to a meeting on Wednesday (Sept 27) to discuss bipartisan efforts to end North Korea's nuclear ambitions, the Yonhap news agency reported.

But leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, Mr Hong Joon Pyo, has refused to attend the special meeting which will be held over dinner, said Mr Jun Byung Hun, President Moon's top secretary for political affairs.

Mr Hong has signalled earlier he would boycott the meeting, after accusing the President of merely trying to put on a public display, Yonhap reported.

Mr Moon will be joined at the meeting by opposition leaders from the centre-right Bareun Party, the liberal People's Party and the progressive Justice Party.

The meeting follows Mr Moon's discussion with US President Donald Trump and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York last week, at which they pledged to maximise pressure on North Korea, which has advanced its nuclear and missile development.

The leaders also confirmed their commitment to the full implementation of sanctions resolutions by the United Nations Security Council.

Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept 3 and has launched dozens of missiles this year as it accelerates a programme aimed at enabling it to target the US with a nuclear-tipped missile.

The two Koreas have technically remained at war since the 1950s, with Mr Kim's regime saying an armistice agreement is invalid.