Two Koreas to hold high-level talks at Panmunjom to plan next inter-Korean summit
- 6 years ago
Our top story this morning...
The two Koreas will hold their fourth round of high-level talks today at the truce village of Panmunjom.
According to Seoul, the talks are to check how well South and North Korea are implementing their April summit agreement dubbed the Panmunjom Declaration... and to discuss the next inter-Korean summit.
Expectation is high that these talks could rubberstamp the specific time and location of the third inter-Korean summit of the year.
For more, let's connect to our unification ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee on the line, who's standing by at the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue.
Jung-hee, fill us in.
Mark.
In about three hours, high-level delegations of Seoul and Pyongyang will be meeting at the Tongil-gak building located on the North Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom.
The South Korean delegation is to leave Seoul in roughly 30 minutes.
Seoul is sending a four-member delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon... plus three others, including one from the presidential office of Cheongwadae.
Pyongyang is sending a five-member delegation that's led by the head of its reunification committee, Ri Son-gwon, and includes three senior officials in charge of environment, railways, and economic cooperation.
Just by looking at the delegates, it seems there's a difference in focus between the two Koreas -- Seoul seems more focused on planning the summit, while Pyongyang is more interested in boosting inter-Korean economic cooperation.
Eyes are on whether today's high-level talks will set some specific schedules of the next and third inter-Korean summit of the year -- a summit that could provide momentum to the nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. which have stalled over the past few weeks due to their differences on declaring an end to the Korean War.
At a press briefing on Sunday, the nation's top office spokesperson said... he expects Seoul and Pyongyang to agree on the summit's date and location, as well as the size of South Korean delegation to visit the North.
He added the two Koreas have been communicating through various channels, and his expectations are not groundless.
Right now, it's widely speculated the summit will take place at the end of this month in Pyongyang... but that's to be confirmed after today's high-level talks.
That's all I have for now, but I'll have more updates for our later newscasts, Mark.
The two Koreas will hold their fourth round of high-level talks today at the truce village of Panmunjom.
According to Seoul, the talks are to check how well South and North Korea are implementing their April summit agreement dubbed the Panmunjom Declaration... and to discuss the next inter-Korean summit.
Expectation is high that these talks could rubberstamp the specific time and location of the third inter-Korean summit of the year.
For more, let's connect to our unification ministry correspondent Oh Jung-hee on the line, who's standing by at the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue.
Jung-hee, fill us in.
Mark.
In about three hours, high-level delegations of Seoul and Pyongyang will be meeting at the Tongil-gak building located on the North Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom.
The South Korean delegation is to leave Seoul in roughly 30 minutes.
Seoul is sending a four-member delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon... plus three others, including one from the presidential office of Cheongwadae.
Pyongyang is sending a five-member delegation that's led by the head of its reunification committee, Ri Son-gwon, and includes three senior officials in charge of environment, railways, and economic cooperation.
Just by looking at the delegates, it seems there's a difference in focus between the two Koreas -- Seoul seems more focused on planning the summit, while Pyongyang is more interested in boosting inter-Korean economic cooperation.
Eyes are on whether today's high-level talks will set some specific schedules of the next and third inter-Korean summit of the year -- a summit that could provide momentum to the nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. which have stalled over the past few weeks due to their differences on declaring an end to the Korean War.
At a press briefing on Sunday, the nation's top office spokesperson said... he expects Seoul and Pyongyang to agree on the summit's date and location, as well as the size of South Korean delegation to visit the North.
He added the two Koreas have been communicating through various channels, and his expectations are not groundless.
Right now, it's widely speculated the summit will take place at the end of this month in Pyongyang... but that's to be confirmed after today's high-level talks.
That's all I have for now, but I'll have more updates for our later newscasts, Mark.