The South Korean Ministry of Unification announced the issuance of a joint press release on November 26 after a daylong working-level meeting for intergovernmental talks held on the North Korean side of Panmunjeom.
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Vice-ministerial officials will represent each side to discuss issues regarding improved ties, the statement said.
But a communication channel that links the Panmunjom meeting place, on the North’s side, with Pyongyang and Seoul experienced a malfunction, and the meeting was delayed for two hours, and talks did not begin until 12:50 p.m., Seoul time.
Although any dialogue between the two Koreas is generally welcomed as a step in the right direction, precedent offers little hope of a successful outcome.
In freezing temperatures and light snowfall, South Korea held a state funeral for former president Kim Young Sam, whose 1992 election victory brought a formal end to more than 30 years of military rule. North Korea, meanwhile, will want to discuss the resumption of South Korean tour groups to its scenic Mount Kumgang resort, which Seoul suspended in 2008.
As part of the deal, the two Koreas held reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War in late October.
There are also worries that wider concessions on reprocessing could further complicate efforts to roll back North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
The drill utilized K-9 self-propelled artillery launchers despite North Korea’s warning on Sunday that it would respond “mercilessly” should the South Korean live-fire drill push through near the tense border.
South Korea’s Yonhap News agency has the details.
“We will do our best to faithfully carry out the agreements from the last high-level talks”, South Korea’s chief delegate Kim Ki-woong told reporters in Seoul.
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Less than 20 percent of the enrichment will be possible if the two countries agree to it through consultations at the standing committee co-chaired by United States deputy secretary of energy and South Korean vice foreign minister.
