Two Koreas to hold high-level talks on Wednesday
By Kim Bo-eun
The two Koreas will hold a high-level meeting on Wednesday to discuss follow-up measures about the agreements reached at the inter-Korean summit. This will be the first such meeting since the summit, held on April 27.
A delegation from the North led by Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, will meet with his South Korean counterpart Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon at the truce village of Panmunjeom. The meeting will take place at the Peace House on the South's side.
The delegations from each side include officials in charge of railroads and sports, as well as reporters. On the South's side is an official from the Korea Forest Service. Based on the composition of the delegations, the Koreas are expected to discuss connecting railroads, fielding inter-Korean teams for sports events and restoring forests in the North.
The Panmunjeom declaration states the Koreas seek to connect and modernize railways and roads along the East Coast to make use of them for inter-Korean exchanges.
The issue of resuming reunions of family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War is also set to be addressed. An official of North Korea's committee for the peaceful reunification of the fatherland, included in the North's delegation for the high-level talks, previously took part in the Red Cross talks that arranged the last reunion that took place in September 2015. The reunions are a pressing issue, because the remaining family members are now in their 80s or older.
“The issue of separated family members holds priority,” a high-level unification ministry official told reporters, Tuesday.
A date for working-level Red Cross talks for the reunions could be fixed at the meeting. The Panmunjeom Declaration stated the Koreas will hold Red Cross talks to enable a reunion to take place on Aug. 15, marking Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation.
Meanwhile, attention is growing over whether the release of six South Korean detainees in the North will be discussed, after the North freed three American prisoners last week.
“There are humanitarian issues that need to be addressed, so discussions will take place accordingly,” the official said.
There is also speculation the date for military talks may be set in the meeting.
“Through the high-level inter-Korean meeting we will discuss with the North means to carry out the Panmunjeom Declaration and implement it to lay the groundwork for sustainable development of inter-Korean relations and the settlement of a lasting system of peace on the Korean Peninsula,” the unification ministry said.
The meeting was arranged after the North proposed on Tuesday it be held the following day. Earlier, the South had suggested the meeting be held on Monday.
The date for the next high-level meeting could be arranged at Wednesday's meeting, since the Koreas have much to discuss in implementing the Panmunjeom Declaration.