Two Koreas hold first round of high-level talks since April 27 summit
- 6 years ago
Over at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom,... officials from the two sides are holding their high-level talks,... the first round since the April 27th summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
A lot of topics to hammer out,... as the two Koreas are expected to discuss ways to carry out plans stipulated in the summit agreement, the Panmunjom Declaration.
We have our Unification Ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee, who's been following today's high-level talks,... and she joins us live at Seoul's Office for the Inter-Korean Dialogue.
Jung-hee.
Good morning, Semin.
We are expecting the inter-Korean high-level talks to have just started.
The talks were scheduled to begin at 10AM, Korea time, at the Peace House -- located on the South Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom.
The South Korean delegation left the Office for the Inter-Korean Dialogue early this morning.
Take a look to what they had to say:
"Through our third high-level talks today, we will do our best to quickly carry out what was agreed between the two Koreas at the first and second summits... as well as create a favorable environment for the North Korea-U.S. summit."
Seoul has a five-member delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon... and
Pyongyang, too, has a five-member delegation... led by Ri Son-kwon, the head of the North's inter-Korean affairs committee.
Vice ministers of Seoul and Pyongyang in charge of transport and railways... as well as those in charge of sports are attending today's talks... which hints the two Koreas will discuss linking the existing railways... and forming joint teams for the Asian Games to be held in Indonesia this August.
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.
Before leaving, Seoul's unification minister laid out some key talking points for the day.
Take a look...
"I believe we will put a lot of emphasis on the June 15th joint event as we don't have much time left... as well as the issue of establishing a joint liaison office in Kaesong. We will also try and set schedules for inter-Korean Red Cross talks, sports talks and military talks."
At their summit in April, the leaders of Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to hold military talks before the end of May to lower tensions... and Red Cross talks as soon as possible to resume reunions for families separated by the Korean War.
But the schedules of these talks have been delayed as the high-level talks set for two weeks ago were called off.
So, the family reunions, es
A lot of topics to hammer out,... as the two Koreas are expected to discuss ways to carry out plans stipulated in the summit agreement, the Panmunjom Declaration.
We have our Unification Ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee, who's been following today's high-level talks,... and she joins us live at Seoul's Office for the Inter-Korean Dialogue.
Jung-hee.
Good morning, Semin.
We are expecting the inter-Korean high-level talks to have just started.
The talks were scheduled to begin at 10AM, Korea time, at the Peace House -- located on the South Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom.
The South Korean delegation left the Office for the Inter-Korean Dialogue early this morning.
Take a look to what they had to say:
"Through our third high-level talks today, we will do our best to quickly carry out what was agreed between the two Koreas at the first and second summits... as well as create a favorable environment for the North Korea-U.S. summit."
Seoul has a five-member delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon... and
Pyongyang, too, has a five-member delegation... led by Ri Son-kwon, the head of the North's inter-Korean affairs committee.
Vice ministers of Seoul and Pyongyang in charge of transport and railways... as well as those in charge of sports are attending today's talks... which hints the two Koreas will discuss linking the existing railways... and forming joint teams for the Asian Games to be held in Indonesia this August.
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.
Before leaving, Seoul's unification minister laid out some key talking points for the day.
Take a look...
"I believe we will put a lot of emphasis on the June 15th joint event as we don't have much time left... as well as the issue of establishing a joint liaison office in Kaesong. We will also try and set schedules for inter-Korean Red Cross talks, sports talks and military talks."
At their summit in April, the leaders of Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to hold military talks before the end of May to lower tensions... and Red Cross talks as soon as possible to resume reunions for families separated by the Korean War.
But the schedules of these talks have been delayed as the high-level talks set for two weeks ago were called off.
So, the family reunions, es