Two Koreas discuss restoring military communication lines
- 6 years ago
South and North Korea are holding working-level military talks for restoring their communication lines.
For more, let's connect to our Park Hee-jun.
Hee-jun, tell us more about today's talks...
Semin.
The inter-Korean military talks are presumably beginning as we speak,... as they were scheduled to start at 10AM, Korea time -- a matter of minutes ago.
The talks are being held at the CIQ, or the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Office located in Paju, Gyeonggi-do Province,... just south of the inter-Korean border.
The South Korean delegation is being led by Army Colonel Cho Yong-geun,... and the North Korean delegation by Colonel Om Chang-nam.
They're a follow-up to last week's general-level negotiations.
The two sides will mainly discuss fully reconnecting their military communications channels in the East Sea and West Sea districts.
They serve to prevent possible provocations and conflict between the two Koreas.
The West Sea channel was severed in 2016 after the shutdown of the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex.
It was restored in January for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics,... but it's only capable of phone communication -- that is verbal messages only.
The optic cable lines need to be recovered for the two sides to exchange faxes.
As for the East Sea communication lines,... they were suspended in 2011 amid military tensions.
On top of that,... they were later destroyed in a wildfire.
These talks are the first of their kind in several years,... since the deadly attack on the South Korean warship Cheonan in 2010 and the shelling of Yeonpyeong-do Island later in the same year.
The talks are part of ongoing efforts by the two Koreas to implement the Panmunjom Declaration from the April 27th inter-Korean summit, which includes reducing military tension and building trust.
The discussions have even more meaning as today marks the 68th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
That's all I have for now-- I'll keep you updated throughout the day.
Semin.
For more, let's connect to our Park Hee-jun.
Hee-jun, tell us more about today's talks...
Semin.
The inter-Korean military talks are presumably beginning as we speak,... as they were scheduled to start at 10AM, Korea time -- a matter of minutes ago.
The talks are being held at the CIQ, or the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Office located in Paju, Gyeonggi-do Province,... just south of the inter-Korean border.
The South Korean delegation is being led by Army Colonel Cho Yong-geun,... and the North Korean delegation by Colonel Om Chang-nam.
They're a follow-up to last week's general-level negotiations.
The two sides will mainly discuss fully reconnecting their military communications channels in the East Sea and West Sea districts.
They serve to prevent possible provocations and conflict between the two Koreas.
The West Sea channel was severed in 2016 after the shutdown of the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex.
It was restored in January for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics,... but it's only capable of phone communication -- that is verbal messages only.
The optic cable lines need to be recovered for the two sides to exchange faxes.
As for the East Sea communication lines,... they were suspended in 2011 amid military tensions.
On top of that,... they were later destroyed in a wildfire.
These talks are the first of their kind in several years,... since the deadly attack on the South Korean warship Cheonan in 2010 and the shelling of Yeonpyeong-do Island later in the same year.
The talks are part of ongoing efforts by the two Koreas to implement the Panmunjom Declaration from the April 27th inter-Korean summit, which includes reducing military tension and building trust.
The discussions have even more meaning as today marks the 68th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
That's all I have for now-- I'll keep you updated throughout the day.
Semin.