His DPRK counterpart is Hwang Chol, a director of the secretariat at the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea in charge of inter-Korean affairs.
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Does North Korean leader Kim Jong Un really want to mend ties with Seoul?
The meeting was the first inter-governmental interaction since August, when the two sides signed an agreement to defuse tensions after a landmine blast maimed two South Korean troops.
The Marine Corps of South Korea held a live-fire drill on Monday at the Yellow Sea to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the North Korean shelling of the Yeonpyeong Island in 2010 that led to the death of two Marines and two civilians, reported Korea JoongAng Daily on Tuesday.
The population of North Korean defectors in South Korea continues to grow, but an increasing number of new arrivals are falling through the cracks and are ineligible for the benefits that come with resettlement.
Seoul is expected to push for an expansion of reunions of families separated by the Korean War six decades ago.
South Korea and the United States on Wednesday formally ratified a new nuclear cooperation agreement that stops short of granting Seoul the permission it had sought to start reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Pyongyang is calling for the South to once again permit tourists to travel to the Mount Kumgang resort, a program that has been halted since North Korean soldiers shot a South Korean tourist dead in July 2008.
Seoul also designates “non-protected” status to North Korean defectors who have a proven criminal record, and to individuals who lived in China for at least 10 years.
The two sides were yet to resume the talks after the break extended past five hours, another ministry official said by early evening, without elaborating further.
Thursday’s meeting is aimed at discussing when and where those high-level talks should be held with what agenda, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry. Providing those resources, Jung said, could send the right message to North Koreans about South Korea.
The two Koreas have held two summits in the past, one in 2000 and the second in 2007.
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This report was produced in collaboration with the VOA Korean service.
