NK Agrees to Talks With South on Flooding, Reunion
North Korea Tuesday agreed to South Korea's proposal for talks on preventing floods of cross-border rivers and resuming reunions of separated families, the Unification Ministry announced.
Lee Jong-joo, a spokesperson at the Unification Ministry, said the North has agreed to meet with Seoul officials on the proposed dates, but asked to hold both meetings in its border city of Gaeseong.
The upcoming meetings come in light of thawing bilateral ties following the North's shift to conciliatory diplomacy with the South and the United States.
The North's latest reconciliatory gesture comes just one day after it abruptly test-fired five short-range missiles in the East Sea.
On Monday, the South Korean government sent a letter proposing working-level talks in Gaeseong Wednesday to discuss measures to prevent flooding of the Imjin River that runs along the western section of the inter-Korean border.
On a separate track, the South's National Red Cross announced that its head, Yoo Chong-ha, sent a letter to his Northern counterpart Jang Jae-on proposing talks on Friday at the North's Mt. Geumgang resort to explore ways to resume cross-border family reunions.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told South Korean and Japanese leaders at their joint summit in Beijing Saturday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed his wish to improve relations with Seoul and Tokyo as well as Washington. Wen was in Pyongyang last week, meeting with Kim and other senior Pyongyang officials.