They also agreed to work towards a resumption of reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, a recurring point of contention.
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Who will lead each side’s delegation is another issue Seoul and Pyongyang may disagree on. 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.
“I’ll do my best to sincerely implement the agreements reached during the high-level talks (in August)”, Kim said. However, North Korea canceled the summit a day before as it felt affronted by South Korea’s nomination of a vice minister as its chief delegate.
Many of these defectors did not apply for asylum within a year of their arrival, and South Korea does not provide them with the same social welfare benefits they confer to other North Korean refugees, South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh reported on Friday.
“The overall atmosphere for a successful conclusion of these talks is really not that favourable”, said Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst with the Sejong Institute think tank in Seoul.
Although Thursday’s talks offer some hope of reconciliation, observers remain skeptical. He served a key role in diplomatic relations with China, traveling to Beijing in September to attend a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of China’s victory over Japan.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is believed to have demoted one of his top officials and sent him to a rural collective farm for reeducation, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Patriots and Vetran Affairs held a memorial at the War Memorial of Korea in honor of the two late Marines who were killed in the shelling five years ago.
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday voiced his hope of visiting the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) “at the earliest possible date”, but the relevant effort “takes time”. Since then, South Korea has repeatedly rejected North Korean demands that it resume the tours, citing existing sanctions against Pyongyang.
