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| Kim Ki-woong, right, South Korea's chief negotiator in the latest inter-Korean talks, shakes hands with his North Korean counterpart Hwang Chol, at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Thursday. / Courtesy of the Ministry of Unification |
By Yi Whan-woo
Working-level officials from South and North Korea met at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Thursday, to discuss preparations for envisioned high-level talks in line with the inter-Korean agreement reached on Aug. 25.
"We'll make sure the working-level dialogue will help the Aug. 25 agreement gain momentum," said Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo after sending off the South Korean delegates to Panmunjeom.
Hong, Seoul's point man on inter-Korean affairs, was one of the high-level officials who participated in reaching the August accord to defuse military tension along the border.
Kim Ki-woong, the chief of the three-member South Korean delegation, said "I'll put my utmost efforts to faithfully implement what the two Koreas agreed back in August."
The North Korean side was headed by Hwang Chol, a senior official of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF), the North's government body dealing with inter-Korean affairs.
The working-level dialogue began at 12:50 p.m. in Tongilgak, a conference building on the North Korean side of the Joint Security Area in Panmunjeom.
The two sides initially planned to begin their meeting at 10:30 a.m. but were delayed due to technical problems in establishing a communication line across the Demilitarized Zone.
The meeting was aimed at discussing a wide range of issues that are needed in preparation for the high-level talks, such as time, venue, agenda items and level of representatives present.
It was widely speculated that the delegates will wrangle over whether to set up high-level talks between South Korea's unification minister and Kim Yang-gon, Pyongyang's director of the United Front Department (UFD).
Seoul considers Kim as Hong's counterpart, citing that both the unification ministry and the UFD are in charge of cross-border affairs in their respective nations.
But Pyongyang has maintained that the secretariat director of the CPRF is the appropriate counterpart for Seoul's unification minister.
Seoul did not buy such a claim, saying the CPRF director is ranked lower than ministers or officials in similar positions.
Speculation was also rampant that the two Koreas will be at odds over selecting agenda items for the high-level talks.
North Korea has sought to capitalize on inter-Korean ties to earn cash amid growing U.N. economic sanctions for its nuclear program and development of weapons of mass destruction.
In particular, it repeatedly asked Seoul to resume its suspended tour program to Mount Geumgang and lift economic sanctions against Pyongyang.
Seoul instead is more interested in discussing humanitarian issues, such as regularizing reunions for separated families, and also resuming international negotiations for Pyongyang's denuclearization.
The tour program to North Korea's scenic mountain resort was a cash cow for the cash-strapped, repressive state. It was suspended in 2008 after a female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier for entering an off-limits zone.
Seoul has imposed a set of economic sanctions since May 24, 2010, banning all trade activities with Pyongyang except for those within the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
The punitive measures were enacted in retaliation for the North's sinking of South Korean naval frigate the Cheonan in March 2010.
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