Koreas to hold high-level talks next Monday

SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) — The two Koreas will hold high-level talks next week on ways to implement their latest summit deal, Seoul’s unification ministry announced Friday.

The two sides agreed to have the meeting Monday at the Peace House, a South Korea-controlled building in the truce village of Panmunjom, according to the ministry.

The South had proposed holding the high-level talks on Friday, but the North presented a counteroffer for Monday.

“This afternoon, the government sent a message to accept it,” it added.

South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (L) shakes hands with Ri Son-gwon, a senior North Korean official, in their talks at Panmunjom on Aug. 13, 2018. (Joint press corps-Yonhap)

The South will be represented by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, and his counterpart is likely to be Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country.

The two sides will have “consultations in general on how to implement the Pyongyang Declaration in September and decide schedules for follow-up negotiations by field,” the ministry said.

The ministry was referring to an accord between President Moon Jae-in and the North’s leader Kim Jong-un agreed to on Sept. 19. It calls for a set of measures on easing tensions and fostering inter-Korean exchanges in addition to the North’s commitment to denuclearization.

In the high-level talks, the two Koreas are expected to discuss a plan to establish a joint military committee and launch a joint on-site survey of the North’s roads and railways for a modernization project.

They will also try to fix a date and venue for Red Cross talks on video meetings and exchanges of messages between separated families.

Also among the agenda items are the Pyongyang Art Troupe’s plan to perform in Seoul in October, South Korea’s push for a united team at the 2020 Olympics and a bid to host the 2032 Olympics together.