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The Koreas Hold Top Bilateral Talks

The Koreas Hold Top Bilateral Talks
folder_openKoreas access_time8 years ago
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Local Editor

Officials from North and South Korea opened high-level talks in a bid to mend relations soured by cross-border military tensions earlier this year.

The Koreas Hold Top Bilateral Talks

The vice-ministerial negotiations began on Friday in the Kaesong joint industrial zone on the North Korean side of the border as part of efforts to implement an inter-Korean deal struck on August 26 to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Though the agenda for the talks has not been disclosed, the two neighboring arch-foes are believed to have discussed regular reunions for the families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, and the resumption of tours to North's picturesque Mount Kumgang resort, which Seoul suspended in 2008 after a North Korean guard shot and killed a female tourist.

South Korea's vice minister of unification and the head negotiator for the talks, Hwang Boo-Gi, told reporters before leaving for Kaesong: "There are a lot of issues to discuss between the South and North. We will do our best to resolve them one at a time, step by step."

The Korean Peninsula has been locked in a cycle of military rhetoric since the Korean War. No peace deal has been signed since then. This means that Pyongyang and Seoul remain technically at war as tensions between the two countries remain high.

Millions of people were separated during the 1950-53 Korean War, which divided the two Koreas. Many people died without having a chance to see or hear from their families on the other side of the border.

Meanwhile, about 71,000 South Koreans, more than half of them elderly people aged over 80, are reportedly on Seoul's waiting list for an eventual reunion.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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