The delegates were expected to try to work up a plan for the timing, location and agenda a further meeting, as well as to agree on who would represent each side.
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But after talks, also held at Panmunjom, the two countries reached a deal to de-escalate tensions with the South stopping the broadcasts and the North pulling back troops.
In this photo provided by the South Korean Unification Ministry, …
As part of the August 25 agreement, the two sides held reunions last month of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean war.
The meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom started at 1pm local time (04:00 GMT), marking the first official interaction between the sides since August.
“Agendas for the high-level talks will be pending issues in connection with the improvement of inter-Korean relations”, the ministry said in a statement, without elaborating.
That meeting ended with a joint agreement that included the commitment to resume high-level talks.
Others issues that could have been raised include the South Korean May 24 economic sanctions, the resumption of an inter-Korea tourism program to North Korea’s Mount Kumgang region and North-South family reunions.
South Korean tours to the resort were an important source of hard currency, but were suspended when a female tourist was shot dead by soldiers in 2008, allegedly after walking into a military zone.
South Korea’s military has in the past staged live-fire exercises near the maritime border around the anniversary as a show of force.
North Korea is apparently so serious about the enforced homage that university student monitors are “cutting off the hair of offenders”, the Chosun Ilbo reports.
The two Koreas have held two summits in the past, one in 2000 and the second in 2007.
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says no decision has been made on when he might visit the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
