Inter-Korean developments since April summit agreement
- 6 years ago
Almost five months have passed since the leaders of the two Koreas, President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un, met for the first time in late April.
And our Oh Jung-hee looks into how much of their summit agreement has been carried out... and what still needs to be worked on.
Just last Friday, the two Koreas opened their joint liaison office,... following through on a major part of the April summit agreement.
Located within the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint factory park Seoul and Pyeongyang ran together until 2016, the office started operation immediately after Friday's opening ceremony.
15 to 20 officials each from South and North Korea are working there from 9 to 5 every day.
The South Koreans work on the second floor and the North Koreans on the fourth, and they can meet with each other on the third floor whenever they need to.
"We have opened a communication channel involving officials from the two Koreas that runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We'll do our best so this contributes to a groundbreaking development in inter-Korean relations."
Another big way the two Koreas have moved closer together is the family reunions held last month -- the first in three years.
Two rounds were held for three days each at North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort,... involving nearly 200 families meeting each other for the first time since the Korean War 70 years ago.
As the years go by, there are fewer and fewer people still living who have relatives on the other side, so the need for the reunions is more urgent than ever.
"South and North Korea have agreed to hold family reunions once again within this year. The specifics will be ironed out through working-level talks."
While promoting interactions, the two Koreas have also worked to lower military tensions.
They have stopped distributing propaganda leaflets, turned off their propaganda broadcasts along the border... and restored their military communication line in the west.
Military authorities from both sides are now in talks about mutually disarming their soldiers at the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone,... jointly excavating war remains,... and withdrawing troops from guard posts on a trial basis.
There's more to come throughout the rest of the year.
From concerts in South Korea by North Korean performers... and inter-Korean basketball games... to cooperation on railways, roads and forestation,... the joint liaison office is there to take care of it all.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
And our Oh Jung-hee looks into how much of their summit agreement has been carried out... and what still needs to be worked on.
Just last Friday, the two Koreas opened their joint liaison office,... following through on a major part of the April summit agreement.
Located within the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint factory park Seoul and Pyeongyang ran together until 2016, the office started operation immediately after Friday's opening ceremony.
15 to 20 officials each from South and North Korea are working there from 9 to 5 every day.
The South Koreans work on the second floor and the North Koreans on the fourth, and they can meet with each other on the third floor whenever they need to.
"We have opened a communication channel involving officials from the two Koreas that runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We'll do our best so this contributes to a groundbreaking development in inter-Korean relations."
Another big way the two Koreas have moved closer together is the family reunions held last month -- the first in three years.
Two rounds were held for three days each at North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort,... involving nearly 200 families meeting each other for the first time since the Korean War 70 years ago.
As the years go by, there are fewer and fewer people still living who have relatives on the other side, so the need for the reunions is more urgent than ever.
"South and North Korea have agreed to hold family reunions once again within this year. The specifics will be ironed out through working-level talks."
While promoting interactions, the two Koreas have also worked to lower military tensions.
They have stopped distributing propaganda leaflets, turned off their propaganda broadcasts along the border... and restored their military communication line in the west.
Military authorities from both sides are now in talks about mutually disarming their soldiers at the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone,... jointly excavating war remains,... and withdrawing troops from guard posts on a trial basis.
There's more to come throughout the rest of the year.
From concerts in South Korea by North Korean performers... and inter-Korean basketball games... to cooperation on railways, roads and forestation,... the joint liaison office is there to take care of it all.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.