Inter-Korean high-level talks: date for summit expected to be set, focus to be on denuclearization
- 6 years ago
Today is another big day of diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula.
High-level delegations from South and North Korea are meeting at the border village of Panmunjeom right now... to hammer out the details of their highly-anticipated leaders' summit slated for late April.
Let's go live to our Oh Jung-hee, who's standing by at the Office for Inter-Korean Dialogue.
Jung-hee.
Good morning, Mark.
High-level delegations from Seoul and Pyongyang, just now, made their way into the conference center.
The talks -- the second high-level talks, in fact -- the first were held back in January -- have started just now.
They are taking place at Tongilgak -- a building located on the North Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjeom.
Seoul's delegation left the Office for Inter-Korean Dialogue at 7:30 this morning.
They left a brief remark to the press.
Take a listen.
"We will do our best in our discussions with the North today... to successfully hold inter-Korean summit talks scheduled for late April. Thank you."
The delegation said that the date of the summit will be set for certain through today's meeting.
They added... they'll continue to focus on denuclearization in future discussions,... stressing that it's been the most important agenda... since the January 9th high-level talks and the several comings-and-goings over the past three months.
The delegations are made up of three officials from each side.
The South Korean delegation is led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon...
and the North Korean side is led by Ri Son-kwon, chairman of the North's Committee for Peaceful Reunification.
The two headed their delegations during previous high-level talks back in January.
Jung-hee, so what can we expect from this latest round of talks? There must be some things both sides are looking to discuss today.
That's right, as I mentioned... the main objective is to set the agenda and the date for the summit next month.
South Korea's summit preparation committee has three big tasks for now -- denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, building an ever-lasting peace with lowered tensions,... and finally improving inter-Korean relations.
So, we're expecting Seoul and Pyongyang could exchange opinions on these three things.
But especially as today's talks come hot on the heels of Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's meeting in Beijing,... we could hear more from the North on that as well.
Kim reportedly told Xi that denuclearization has always been his ancestors' teaching and is therefore the regime's goal.
So we could hear some specific steps that the regime is going to take on its path to abandon its nuclear weapons.
Also, just as the unification minister said,... the date for the summit is expected to be determined.
As for now, the 26th or 27th of April are considered the most likely dates.
The location of the summit has already been set as the Peace House on the South Korean side of the border village of Panmu
High-level delegations from South and North Korea are meeting at the border village of Panmunjeom right now... to hammer out the details of their highly-anticipated leaders' summit slated for late April.
Let's go live to our Oh Jung-hee, who's standing by at the Office for Inter-Korean Dialogue.
Jung-hee.
Good morning, Mark.
High-level delegations from Seoul and Pyongyang, just now, made their way into the conference center.
The talks -- the second high-level talks, in fact -- the first were held back in January -- have started just now.
They are taking place at Tongilgak -- a building located on the North Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjeom.
Seoul's delegation left the Office for Inter-Korean Dialogue at 7:30 this morning.
They left a brief remark to the press.
Take a listen.
"We will do our best in our discussions with the North today... to successfully hold inter-Korean summit talks scheduled for late April. Thank you."
The delegation said that the date of the summit will be set for certain through today's meeting.
They added... they'll continue to focus on denuclearization in future discussions,... stressing that it's been the most important agenda... since the January 9th high-level talks and the several comings-and-goings over the past three months.
The delegations are made up of three officials from each side.
The South Korean delegation is led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon...
and the North Korean side is led by Ri Son-kwon, chairman of the North's Committee for Peaceful Reunification.
The two headed their delegations during previous high-level talks back in January.
Jung-hee, so what can we expect from this latest round of talks? There must be some things both sides are looking to discuss today.
That's right, as I mentioned... the main objective is to set the agenda and the date for the summit next month.
South Korea's summit preparation committee has three big tasks for now -- denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, building an ever-lasting peace with lowered tensions,... and finally improving inter-Korean relations.
So, we're expecting Seoul and Pyongyang could exchange opinions on these three things.
But especially as today's talks come hot on the heels of Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's meeting in Beijing,... we could hear more from the North on that as well.
Kim reportedly told Xi that denuclearization has always been his ancestors' teaching and is therefore the regime's goal.
So we could hear some specific steps that the regime is going to take on its path to abandon its nuclear weapons.
Also, just as the unification minister said,... the date for the summit is expected to be determined.
As for now, the 26th or 27th of April are considered the most likely dates.
The location of the summit has already been set as the Peace House on the South Korean side of the border village of Panmu