PARIS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron hopes a fresh round of negotiations would help preserve stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Over a phone conversation with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday, Macron "welcomed the resumption of the inter-Korean dialogue and hoped that it would help reduce tensions and build confidence to lead to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the French presidency said in a statement Friday.

The French president emphasized the Democratic People's Republic of Korean (DPRK) participating in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics was "a positive element," said the statement.

The DPRK and South Korea had held a high-level meeting last week and a working-level meeting this week on the DPRK's participation in the Winter Olympics. The two sides have reached consensus on measures to ease tensions.