By Lee Min-hyung
The two Koreas will hold working-level military talks on Thursday to pre-arrange agendas scheduled to be discussed during the upcoming inter-Korean summit next week, South Korea's defense ministry said Tuesday.
Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to hold the dialogue at Tongilgak, a building on the northern side of the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom, according to the South's Ministry of National Defense.
“Last week, the North offered to have the inter-Korean working-level talks and we reached an agreement to have the dialogue on Thursday,” a ministry official said.
The South will send a three-member military delegation ― led by Army Colonel Cho Yong-geun ― for the upcoming dialogue, according to the defense ministry. The North has yet to notify who its participants will be.
The scheduled meeting comes a few days before the inter-Korean summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The summit will take place in Pyongyang for three days beginning Tuesday.
The leaders from the two Koreas are expected to discuss ways to further develop their ongoing mood for peace. During their first-ever summit this past April, Moon and Kim reached an agreement to completely end any military provocations against each other and shared their bilateral pledge to ease tensions in the demilitarized zone (DMZ).
In the historic April 27 Panmunjeom Declaration, the two Koreas pledged to declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War by the end of this year.
To realize this common goal, military authorities from both sides have since taken a series of concrete steps to ease military tension on the Korean Peninsula. They include the restoration of the inter-Korean military hotline last month.
At that time, the defense ministry viewed the recovery of the military communication channel as the first meaningful step to tighten inter-Korean trust.
The inter-Korean military delegations are also expected to discuss detailed timelines to remove guard posts near the border area. Last month, outgoing Defense Minister Song Young-moo said Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to remove 10 guard posts near the border area and then remove even more.
Other possible agendas for the dialogue include the disarmament at Panmunjeom's Joint Security Area and the repatriation of war remains on the border area.
In particular, the joint excavation of soldiers' remains in the DMZ will also likely be put on the table during the upcoming inter-Korean military talks.
After both militaries narrow their differences on the timeframe and take measures to engage in the joint activity, President Moon is expected to discuss the agenda with Kim during their upcoming summit.
This June, Moon expressed his strong desire to push ahead with the joint repatriation project near the DMZ as a top priority amid the thawing inter-Korean relations.
On Tuesday, the President hinted at his plan to focus on alleviating military tension among Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington during the meeting.
“I will make concerted efforts to ease military tension among the three countries and put an end to any hostile activities against one another during the upcoming summit,” Moon said Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting.
“We should take advantage of the summit as key momentum for a complete denuclearization on the peninsula,” he said. “The goal, however, can be realized through continuous negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.”
South Korea will continue to play a mediating role between the two countries until they communicate smoothly with each other, Moon said.