Navies of two Koreas may hold meeting in China
Seen is ROKS FFG-812 Gyeonggi, the Republic of Korea Navy's Incheon-class guided missile frigate. The ROK Navy on April 20 sent the 2,500-ton fleet to a port in Qingdao, China, to participate in an international fleet review for the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's 70th founding anniversary. Courtesy of ROKN
By Jung Da-min
Both South and North Korea have sent Navy ships to China for an international fleet review, raising speculation about a possible inter-Korean meeting there.
On April 20, the Republic of Korea Navy sent the 2,500-ton FFG-812 Gyeonggi, South Korea's second Incheon-class guided missile frigate launched in 2013. The South Korean delegation led by Vice Admiral Kwon Haek-min, South Korea's vice chief of naval operations, arrived at a port in Qingdao, Sunday.
North Korea also sent a ship on April 20 with Admiral Kim Myong-sik, commander of the Korean People's Army Naval Force on board, according to the country's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The international fleet review off the coast of Qingdao is a four-day event from Monday to Thursday held by the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to celebrate its 70th founding anniversary.
According to the ROK Navy, the South Korean delegation will participate in an array of events, including a massive international fleet review and parade, while seeking military cooperation with other participating nations.
More than 60 countries have sent naval delegations, including Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Singapore. But the U.S. said it would not send its fleet to the event.
The possible meeting between the military leaders of the two Koreas came when the nations' leaders reached the Sept. 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement at the third inter-Korean summit last year.
The military agreement included a joint war remains excavation project but the North has yet to respond to the South's earlier request to send a list of their taskforce team.
Starting April, the South's defense ministry kicked off the project as scheduled in the border area at a location called Arrowhead Ridge, an upland region in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, while saying it would wait on the North's response.
The defense ministry said last week that it has discovered nine bone fragments, believed to belong to at least one soldier killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
The Ministry of Unification said Monday that South Korea would soon send a message to North Korea regarding an event to mark the one-year anniversary of the historic April 27 summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held at the truce village of Panmunjeom in the border area between the two nations.