 |
|
The South Korean delegation for the unified friendly basketball matches, led by Minister of Unification Cho Myung-gyon (right), engages in talks with North Korean Vice Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Kim Yong-chol (left) in Pyongyang on July 5.
|
WPK vice chairman explains to South Korean delegation Kim Jong-un’s will of better inter-Korean relations
Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee, declared plans to hold “good discussions” in a July 6 meeting in Pyongyang with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, South Korean Minister of Unification Cho Myung-gyon reported.
Meeting on the morning of July 5 with Cho and other visiting South Korean government delegation members at Pyongyang’s Koryo Hotel, where they are staying while in the city to attend unified inter-Korean basketball matches, Kim said he was “scheduled to meet with Secretary Pompeo on July 6.”
During the 50-minute-long meeting, Kim also explained why leader Kim Jong-un, who proposed the unified matches, would not be viewing them himself at the Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium (Pyongyang Arena).
“Our Chairman is traveling for on-the-spot guidance in the provinces, far away, and he will therefore be unlikely to watch the match today,” Kim Yong-chol was quoted as saying.
“The general trends for activities related to the organization of this event were individually decided by the Chairman,” he reportedly said, adding that Kim Jong-un had “provided individual instructions” on detailed aspects. In particular, he said Kim Jong-un had asked that the South Koreans be “encouraged to bring their own broadcasting personnel and music” and suggesting that they be “accommodated in such a way that all 100 or so [visiting South Korean delegation members] can use the Koryo Hotel.”
Kim Yong-chol’s account suggests the July 3 addition of venue broadcast personnel to the delegation roster just before the visit was made at Kim Jong-un’s “direction.”
Kim Yong-chol was further quoted as saying the “unified basketball matches, which have received such special attention [from the South and North Korea leaders] are a great event worthy of note in the history of inter-Korean relations.”
“If this trend keeps up in the future, I believe inter-Korean relations will enter a truly great path,” he was also reported as saying.
Kim explained that his own visit to the Koryo Hotel to meet with the South Korean government delegation came at Kim Jong-un’s “suggestion” as well.
“Minister Cho Myung-gyon and all the rest of you are here from the South, and he suggested it would be good for me to meet with you, and to share a few simple words I wanted to convey while Minister Cho is back in Pyongyang after such a long time,” he reportedly said.
North Korea proposes accelerating timeline for implementing Panmunjeom Declaration
In a separate closed-door meeting with Cho, Kim Yong-chol suggested the two sides work “more quickly and practically” with inter-Korean talks between authorities for implementation of the Apr. 27 Panmunjeom Declaration and proposed that South Korea “actively implement the agreed-upon terms at a faster rate and work to generate more concrete and visible achievements the South and North Korean people can truly sense,” Cho reported.
During the conversation, the two of them “held discussions to the effect that the South and North Korean sides will be addressing matters related to a joint march [at the Asian Games] and the Korean Peninsula flag issue in an appropriate way from the same perspective,” he explained. They also pledged to “hold consultations and smooth preparations” for an anticipated fall schedule including more unified basketball matches and a Seoul performance by a North Korean performers’ delegation, he said.
“Nothing new was agreed upon,” Cho said of his closed-door meeting with Kim Yong-chol.
By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer
Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
