Koreas begin first military talks after 10 yrs

Seoul, June 14: South and North Korea began their first high-level military talks in more than 10 years on Thursday to discuss ways to ease cross-border tensions. The meeting kicked off on the northern side of the truce village of Panmunjom at 10 a.m., according to the South Korean Defence Ministry. These were the first such talks since the two sides met in December 2007, reports Yonhap News Agency. South Korea’s five-member delegation is led by Major General Kim Do-gyun. The North’s delegation is led by Lieutenant General An Ik-san, who is accompanied by four other officials.

The Panmunjom Declaration refers to the April 27 inter-Korean summit agreement, which included the two sides’ commitment to joint efforts to ease military tensions and “practically eliminate the danger of war”. The general-grade talks are expected to focus on discussing the restoration of a cross-border military communication line, holding military talks on a regular basis and establishing a hotline between their military leaders. During Tuesday’s summit in Singapore, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to cooperate on recovering the remains of American soldiers killed or who went missing during the Korean War. (IANS)