Two Koreas to hold first round of high-level talks since 4.27 summit
- 6 years ago
The two Koreas are set to hold their first round of high-level talks since the April 27th summit.
There's a lot on the agenda as the two Koreas will discuss ways to successfully carry out plans stipulated in the summit agreement called the Panmunjom Declaration.
Let's go straight live to our Unification Ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee, who's standing by at Seoul's Office for the Inter-Korean Dialogue.
Jung-hee.
Good morning, Mark.
After a month since the first Moon-Kim summit, the high-level talks are finally to happen -- cancelled once but revived again after the leaders of Seoul and Pyongyang met once again at the border village last weekend.
The South Korean delegation is set to leave the Office for the Inter-Korean Dialogue in roughly 30 minutes, and we are expecting them to briefly speak to us about what they're expecting to achieve at today's talks.
The talks are to begin at 10AM, Korea time, at the Peace House -- located on the South Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom.
Seoul is sending a five-member delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and
Pyongyang is also sending a five-member delegation... led by Ri Son-kwon, the head of the North's inter-Korean affairs committee.
Now, what we should pay special attention to is who're making up the delegations of each side.
Seoul's vice minister of transport and Pyongyang's vice minister of railways are both attending the meeting,... which hints the two Koreas will discuss linking the existing railways between the two Koreas.
In the Panmunjom Declaration, the two Koreas have agreed to connect and modernize railways along the east coast as well as between Seoul and the North Korean city of Sinuiju.
The forming of joint teams for the Asian Games, held in Indonesia this August, seems to also be on the table,... with the vice ministers of sports from South and North Korea both taking part in Friday's talks.
And there's the possibility of forestation projects being brought up, as Seoul says the vice minister of its Forest Service may also be at the meeting.
Jung-hee, what else can we expect to be discussed today?
The leaders of Seoul and Pyongyang set out a number of plans in their April 27th summit agreement, and today's talks are to carry them out....
That's right, we are actually expecting a plethora of issues to come up today -- there are just too many to be discussed between the two Koreas.
But above anything else, the most important would be to set the dates for the inter-Korean military talks -- to lower military tension -- and Red Cross talks, for holding a reunion of families separated during the Korean War.
They were both expected to be held within May... but the schedules have already been delayed.
Especially, the date for the family reunions has already been fixed for August 15th.
And considering it takes two to three months to identify and register people wishing to meet their family members from the other side of the border,... we a
There's a lot on the agenda as the two Koreas will discuss ways to successfully carry out plans stipulated in the summit agreement called the Panmunjom Declaration.
Let's go straight live to our Unification Ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee, who's standing by at Seoul's Office for the Inter-Korean Dialogue.
Jung-hee.
Good morning, Mark.
After a month since the first Moon-Kim summit, the high-level talks are finally to happen -- cancelled once but revived again after the leaders of Seoul and Pyongyang met once again at the border village last weekend.
The South Korean delegation is set to leave the Office for the Inter-Korean Dialogue in roughly 30 minutes, and we are expecting them to briefly speak to us about what they're expecting to achieve at today's talks.
The talks are to begin at 10AM, Korea time, at the Peace House -- located on the South Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom.
Seoul is sending a five-member delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and
Pyongyang is also sending a five-member delegation... led by Ri Son-kwon, the head of the North's inter-Korean affairs committee.
Now, what we should pay special attention to is who're making up the delegations of each side.
Seoul's vice minister of transport and Pyongyang's vice minister of railways are both attending the meeting,... which hints the two Koreas will discuss linking the existing railways between the two Koreas.
In the Panmunjom Declaration, the two Koreas have agreed to connect and modernize railways along the east coast as well as between Seoul and the North Korean city of Sinuiju.
The forming of joint teams for the Asian Games, held in Indonesia this August, seems to also be on the table,... with the vice ministers of sports from South and North Korea both taking part in Friday's talks.
And there's the possibility of forestation projects being brought up, as Seoul says the vice minister of its Forest Service may also be at the meeting.
Jung-hee, what else can we expect to be discussed today?
The leaders of Seoul and Pyongyang set out a number of plans in their April 27th summit agreement, and today's talks are to carry them out....
That's right, we are actually expecting a plethora of issues to come up today -- there are just too many to be discussed between the two Koreas.
But above anything else, the most important would be to set the dates for the inter-Korean military talks -- to lower military tension -- and Red Cross talks, for holding a reunion of families separated during the Korean War.
They were both expected to be held within May... but the schedules have already been delayed.
Especially, the date for the family reunions has already been fixed for August 15th.
And considering it takes two to three months to identify and register people wishing to meet their family members from the other side of the border,... we a