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Working-level talks regarding the Kaesong Industrial Complex were held at the Tongilgak building on the North Korean side of the Panmunjeom Joint Security Area on July 7, 2013. The talks spanned 16 hours over July 6 and 7. (Photo Pool)
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The two sides will meet at the Tongilgak building in Panmunjeom to discuss summit preparations
High-level inter-Korean talks to prepare for an anticipated 2018 inter-Korean summit in late April will be taking place on Mar. 29 at the Tongilgak building on the North Korean side of the Panmunjeom Joing Security Area. “On the morning of Mar. 24, the North agreed over the Panmunjeom liaison channel to our Mar. 22 proposal to hold high-level talks to prepare for the summit,” a Ministry of Unification senior official said on Mar. 25 . “The North will be sending a three-member delegation led by Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF) chairman Ri Son-kwon, and agreed to continue discussing practical matters over the Panmunjeom liaison channel,” the official added. On Mar. 22, the South Korean government sent a proposal to Pyongyang to hold high-level talks at the Tongilgak building on Mar. 29 to discuss the summit schedule and agenda. Seoul announced at the time that it planned to send a three-member delegation headed by Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon. Cho and Ri were also the chief delegates at high-level talks on Jan. 9 for North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, which were the first inter-Korean talks since the Moon Jae-in administration took office last year. For the second round of talks, the South Korean side appears likely to raise the three-point agenda previously stated by the summit’s preparatory committee, namely denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, establishment of permanent peace through a historic relaxing of military tensions, and “new and bold progress” in inter-Korean relations. Practical discussions are also expected to take place on the installation of hotline between the two sides’ leaders, as agreed upon during previous meetings with special envoy delegations. Discussions are predicted to focus in particular on the “conditions” cited by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in stating his willingness to denuclearize during a Mar. 5 meeting with a South Korean special presidential delegation including Blue House National Security Office director Chung Eui-yong. Many are now watching to see the specific explanation that Pyongyang provides on the conditions raised by Kim for denuclearization, which included resolution of the military threat and guarantees on the North Korean regime’s security. By Jung In-hwan, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
