South and North Korea are set to hold a working-level meeting Thursday to prepare for high-level government talks as they seek to mend their long-strained ties, government officials said.
The preparatory meeting is to take place on the North’s side of the truce village of Panmunjom at around 10:30 a.m., a move to implement the August deal on defusing military tension.
“I will do my best to help get the inter-Korean deal fully implemented,” Kim Ki-woong, Seoul’s chief negotiator for the meeting, told reporters before leaving for the truce village.
Breaking monthslong silence for Seoul’s repeated dialogue offer last week, the North offered to hold the preparatory talks. The two sides are likely to discuss details of the high-level talks, including the timing, the venue and the agenda.
A key element of the inter-Korean deal on Aug. 25 is to hold high-level government talks as early as possible either in Seoul or Pyongyang.
Inter-Korean relations have showed signs of improvement as both sides eked out the deal following heightened tension over a land mine blast blamed on the North in early August. The incident maimed two South Korean soldiers near the border.
The main contentious issues to be discussed include North Korea’s possible demand for South Korea to resume a long-suspended inter-Korean tour program at Mount Kumgang in the North, experts said.
At the meeting, South Korea is expected to raise the issue of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War as Seoul puts top priority on resolving it.
The North has called on the South to resume the Mount Kumgang tour program, a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, as it faces difficulty in earning hard currency.
The tour has been suspended since 2008, following the death of a South Korean female tourist by a North Korean solider at the scenic resort.
Seoul is seeking to hold family reunions on a regular basis as time is running out for separated families, whose number is assumed to be more than 66,000 in South Korea. The North has not responded to Seoul’s call. (Yonhap)
