High-level Korean talks lead to groundbreaking agreements
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THE Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and South Korea continued their push for peace yesterday with high-level talks that resulted in a host of agreements, including a plan by neighbors for a groundbreaking ceremony this year on an ambitious project to connect their railways and roads.
The agreements come amid unease in Washington over the speed of inter-Korean engagement. Many outsiders believe that US-led efforts to rid DPRK of its nuclear-tipped missiles are lagging significantly behind the Koreas’ efforts to move past decades of bitter rivalry.
A series of weapons tests by DPRK last year, and an exchange of insults and threats between US President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, had many on the Korean Peninsula fearing war. But there has since been a surprising peace initiative, with three inter-Korean summits and a June meeting in Singapore between Trump and Kim. The US and DPRK are working on plans for a second such summit.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles affairs with DPRK, said in a statement that the government will share details from yesterday’s meeting with the United States and other nations and will closely coordinate with them to avoid any friction over sanctions.
The ministry said the two countries agreed to hold general-level military talks soon to discuss reducing border tensions and setting up a joint military committee that’s meant to maintain communication and avoid crises and accidental clashes.
The Koreas also agreed to use their newly opened liaison office in the DPRK border town of Kaesong to host talks between sports officials in late October to discuss plans to send combined teams to the 2020 Summer Olympics and to make a push to co-host the 2032 Summer Games.
The two countries will hold Red Cross talks at DPRK’s Diamond Mountain resort in November to set up video-conference meetings between aging relatives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War and potentially expand face-to-face reunions between them.
Yesterday’s talks were aimed at finding ways to carry out peace agreements announced after a summit last month between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim in the DPRK capital of Pyongyang.
South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said it was meaningful that the Koreas are getting faster in reaching agreements as their diplomacy gains traction.
His DPRK counterpart Ri Son Gwon said “no group and no force will be able to prevent the path toward peace, prosperity and our nation’s unification.”
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