South hints at resuming NK contact

The government is considering contacting North Korea to restart a suspended high-level dialogue, in a move to revive the inter-Korean peace momentum, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.

“We can contact the North again even if no specific schedule (to start the dialogue) has yet been delivered to the regime,” an official from the presidential office told reporters.

Last week, Pyongyang canceled planned inter-Korean high-level talks, citing the ongoing Max Thunder joint air force exercises between Seoul and Washington. The regime has since vented its anger over the drills, saying that they were contrary to thawing inter-Korean relations.

Even if no specific timeline has been set over the possible restarting of the dialogue, Seoul is expect- ed to offer to arrange a schedule with the North in the near future.

This is because the joint drills end their two-week run today.

President Moon Jae-in also said in a recent summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that inter-Korean dialogue is expected to restart after the end of the joint drills.

The Cheong Wa Dae official also said no schedule has been fixed over when the leaders of the two Koreas will have their first-ever telephone conversation via a hotline to narrow their differences on sensitive issues such as the Seoul-Washington military exercises.

Once the high-level talks start, both sides are likely to discuss details to realize the Panmunjeom Declaration, an agreement signed by President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a historic inter-Korean summit last month.