North and South Korea yesterday agreed to hold talks on Thursday next week, setting the stage for the first government-level meeting focused on easing tension since the two pledged to improve ties following an armed standoff in August.
The North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, its main agency handling inter-Korean ties, proposed to hold working-level contact for government talks, at a truce village on their militarized border.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles the nation’s relationship with Pyongyang, said that it had accepted the proposal.
The South has proposed to hold government talks on several occasions following the Aug. 25 agreement that ended a standoff which involved an exchange of artillery fire amid an escalation of tension following landmine blasts at the border.
“Now we’re back on again, the game’s afoot,” said John Delury, a North Korea expert at Yonsei University in Seoul.
The proposal for working-level talks would ease the way for the two sides to get on with discussions, he said.
“Sometimes these talks break down before they even start over what level to send, so this sounds like a very pragmatic and straightforward approach,” Delury added.
As part of the August agreement, the two sides held reunions last month of families separated during the 1950-1953 Korean War.
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