ID :
22315
Thu, 10/02/2008 - 10:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/22315
The shortlink copeid
Divided Koreas to hold military talks Thursday
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- Officials from the two Koreas will meet this week at the joint security area inside the demilitarized zone dividing the countries in what will be their first military dialogue in over eight months, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
The talks, first proposed for Tuesday by communist North Korea, will begin at 10
a.m. on the South Korean side of the joint security area, better known as the
truce village of Panmunjom, according to ministry officials.
"North Korea has responded positively to our counterproposal to hold the talks on
Thursday and agreed to hold the talks from 10 a.m.," the ministry said in a press
release.
Seoul proposed to change the date of the North's request to Thursday as South
Korea was set to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its military's foundation this
week.
The countries last held military talks on Jan. 25 of this year. Pyongyang has
since cut off nearly all dialogue channels with Seoul after South Korea's
conservative Lee Myung-bak administration was inaugurated in February.
The envisioned meeting also comes amid renewed tension between the communist
nation and its five partners in six-way talks on ending North Korea's nuclear
ambitions.
Christopher Hill, the top U.S. envoy in the nuclear disarmament talks, began on
Wednesday what was expected to be a two-day trip to Pyongyang to discuss the
current impasse in the talks that also involve South Korea, Japan, China and
Russia.
The ministry said the sides will discuss issues related to the "implementation of
agreements" that were previously reached between the countries' respective
militaries.
Ministry officials earlier noted the North had failed to specify what it wished
to discuss at the proposed meeting.
South Korea's three-member delegation to Thursday's meeting will be led by Army
Col. Lee Sang-cheol, chief of the North Korea policy bureau at the Defense
Ministry, while the North Korean delegation will be headed by Col. Park Rim-su,
the ministry said.
The two Koreas technically remain at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended only
with a ceasefire, not a peace agreement.
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- Officials from the two Koreas will meet this week at the joint security area inside the demilitarized zone dividing the countries in what will be their first military dialogue in over eight months, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
The talks, first proposed for Tuesday by communist North Korea, will begin at 10
a.m. on the South Korean side of the joint security area, better known as the
truce village of Panmunjom, according to ministry officials.
"North Korea has responded positively to our counterproposal to hold the talks on
Thursday and agreed to hold the talks from 10 a.m.," the ministry said in a press
release.
Seoul proposed to change the date of the North's request to Thursday as South
Korea was set to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its military's foundation this
week.
The countries last held military talks on Jan. 25 of this year. Pyongyang has
since cut off nearly all dialogue channels with Seoul after South Korea's
conservative Lee Myung-bak administration was inaugurated in February.
The envisioned meeting also comes amid renewed tension between the communist
nation and its five partners in six-way talks on ending North Korea's nuclear
ambitions.
Christopher Hill, the top U.S. envoy in the nuclear disarmament talks, began on
Wednesday what was expected to be a two-day trip to Pyongyang to discuss the
current impasse in the talks that also involve South Korea, Japan, China and
Russia.
The ministry said the sides will discuss issues related to the "implementation of
agreements" that were previously reached between the countries' respective
militaries.
Ministry officials earlier noted the North had failed to specify what it wished
to discuss at the proposed meeting.
South Korea's three-member delegation to Thursday's meeting will be led by Army
Col. Lee Sang-cheol, chief of the North Korea policy bureau at the Defense
Ministry, while the North Korean delegation will be headed by Col. Park Rim-su,
the ministry said.
The two Koreas technically remain at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended only
with a ceasefire, not a peace agreement.
