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South Korean Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon (right) and US State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun talk with reporters after the second South Korea-US working-level meeting on North Korean issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Dec. 21, 2018. (Shin So-young, staff photographer)
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Focused on waiving sanctions for inter-Korean cooperation
South Korea and the US held a working group video conference on Jan. 17 in which they discussed the matter of waiving sanctions for inter-Korean cooperative efforts, including joint road surveys and the exhumation of Korean War POW/MIA remains. “A substantial agreement has been reached between South Korea and the US in the issue of transporting necessary equipment into North Korea for a joint inter-Korean road survey and the removal of mines to exhume human remains, and a request for an exemption of sanctions will be made shortly with the UN Security Council,” a South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said of the meeting. On Dec. 23–25, South and North Korea conducted a local inspection of North Korean sections of roads along the East Sea railway line without the use of extra equipment. If the exemption is finalized, the two sides are expected to hold discussions toward a joint survey using additional equipment. The working group video conference on Jan. 17 was attended by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Peace Diplomacy Planning Team Director Lee Dong-ryeol and officials from the Ministry of Unification and Blue House on the South Korean side, and by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alex Wong among other officials on the US side. The two sides also discussed the matter of video reunions among divided family members during the meeting. “Various equipment items would be needed, and there were discussions to the effect that more time would be needed to review those items,” a South Korean official said. “With the matter of the US government shutdown as well, [the issue] will require more discussion.” The South Korean side also broached the topic of a North Korea visit by Kaesong Industrial Complex business owners, but the matter was not concretely discussed after the US side suggested it was not a suitable issue for the video conference, sources said. With the two sides showing no differences on the matter of sending 200,000 doses of the flu treatment Tamiflu to North Korea, the South Korean government plans to hold discussions with the North before shipping the medications over land delivering them at Kaesong early next week. By Park Min-hee, staff reporter, and Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
