North Korea Begins Talks With Seoul on Truce During Olympics

by Dramelin 7:00 PM 0 comments

Cho Myoung-gyon speaks to journalists as he leaves the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue in Seoulon Jan.
Negotiators from North Korea and South Korea met on Tuesday for talks aimed at making the Olympics a success, a move that could lead to broader discussions on Kim Jong Un’s nuclear program.
Delegates started talks around 10 a.
at Panmunjom, a village in the Joint Security Area along the heavily fortified border that divides the Korean Peninsula.
The immediate focus is on securing North Korea’s participation at the Winter Games starting on Feb.
9 in Pyeongchang, a South Korean ski town.
“I understand there is high interest internally and externally,” Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told reporters on Tuesday ahead of the talks.
“I’ll handle the meeting calmly without being hasty to make the Pyeongchang Olympics and Paralympics a peaceful event, and make it a good first step to improve inter-Korean relations.
” The talks follow North Korean leader Kim’s call for dialogue in a New Year’s Day address in which he claimed the ability to strike anywhere in the U.
with a nuclear weapon.
American and Japanese officials have sought reassurances from South Korea that the discussions wouldn’t undermine United Nations sanctions aimed at pressuring Kim to abandon his nuclear program.
What to Expect When North Korea Talks With Seoul: QuickTake Q&A U.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis condemned North Korea in a call with his Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera, the Pentagon said on Monday night.
The pair underscored the importance of maximizing pressure on North Korea, according to the statement, which made no reference to the talks.
Both South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim will be able to listen in on the discussions, and intervene if needed, according to a South Korean government official, who asked not to be identified.
Moon’s government doesn’t know what North Korea wants from talks, according to three South Korean government officials.
In addition to the Olympics, South Korea plans to talk about opening a dialogue with the North Korean military and reuniting separated families, Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae Hyun told reporters in Seoul on Monday.
Both measures were proposed by Moon last year.
President Donald Trump on Saturday called the talks “a big start,” saying they were evidence that sanctions targeting North Korea’s oil imports and export revenue were working.
At Moon’s request, Trump delayed annual joint U.
-South Korean military exercises until after the Paralympic Games end March 18.
The two nations will conduct the military drills from April 1 until the end of May, Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing South Korean government officials it didn’t identify.