A Unification Ministry official in Seoul said the two sides would meet at the deputy minister level on December 11 in the Kaesong joint industrial zone, just inside North Korea.
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The NIS was quoted as saying that Choe’s demotion was related to the alleged collapse of a water tunnel at a power station.
Koreans dream an expensive dream.In it, North and South Korea are one people, one nation, united under one state.
But as if the attempt at being a rock-star wasn’t enough, it seems Kim Jong-un now wants to be idolised and copied by the youth, similar to the manner in which David Beckham’s hairstyles trend.
Kim first won a parliamentary seat in his late twenties, beginning a life-long career in politics during which he challenged a string of authoritarian leaders and pushed for democratic reform. North Korea also has a track record of linking humanitarian subjects, such as reunions of families split by the inter-Korean border, to concessions it seeks from South Korea, such as curtailing military exercises.
Specifically, the mystery of where Choe Ryong Hae, a former “key aide” to Kim Jong-un and de facto regime number two at one point, went appears to have been resolved.
The NIS told lawmakers that Kim is eventually expected to rehabilitate Choe, but didn’t say when.
South Korea is holding a funeral ceremony at the National Assembly for former President Kim Young-sam. Information about the secretive, authoritarian state is often impossible to confirm.
The only reasonable and rights-respecting way for Beijing to proceed is to allow this group of nine North Koreans move without hindrance or harassment to a country where they will feel safe, such as South Korea.
An earlier plan by Mr. Ban to visit North Korea in May was cancelled abruptly when North Korea rescinded the invitation.
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There has been outpouring of mourning for Kim, whose achievements have been largely ignored since he left office in disgrace in early 1998, after accepting what many South Koreans still recall as a humiliating global bailout during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.
