The Korea Herald

피터빈트

South, North Korea to hold working-level talks on upcoming summit

By Yonhap

Published : April 5, 2018 - 09:39

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Officials from South Korea and North Korea are set to hold talks Thursday to discuss the details of an upcoming summit between their leaders.

The working-level dialogue will be held on the South Korean side of the joint security area, also known as Panmunjom, according to officials from the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

The meeting comes a week after the two Koreas agreed to hold the summit on April 27 in a high-level dialogue on the North Korean side of the JSA.

It was originally set to be held Wednesday, but the North asked that it be delayed by one day.


This photo provided by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) shaking hands with Chung Eui-yong, the top security advisor to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, during their meeting in Pyongyang on March 5. (Yonhap) This photo provided by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) shaking hands with Chung Eui-yong, the top security advisor to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, during their meeting in Pyongyang on March 5. (Yonhap)

The summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will also be held at the JSA, which is located inside the heavily-fortified demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas.

South and North Korea remain technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty.

Wednesday's meeting is largely aimed at discussing security measures, protocols and media coverage, Cheong Wa Dae officials said.

It will be followed by a separate working-level meeting Saturday to discuss the establishment of a communication hotline between the South Korean and North Korean leaders, which the countries have agreed to install.

The South-North Korea summit, if held, will mark the third of its kind and will also be the first time that a North Korean leader has stepped on South Korean soil since the end of the Korean War. The first two inter-Korean summits were both held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007.

The proposed summit follows a flurry of dialogue and exchanges between the two Koreas around the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in South Korea earlier this year.

Moon's top security advisor, Chung Eui-yong, traveled to Pyongyang early last month to meet the reclusive North Korean leader and reach an agreement on the inter-Korean summit, as well as on a US-North Korea summit.

US President Donald Trump has said he will meet North Korea's Kim in May. The date and location of the US-North Korea summit have yet to be decided. (Yonhap)