North, South set to hold working-level talks today
Koreas look to next month’s Winter Olympics to ease tensions
North Korea and South Korea have agreed to hold working-level talks at the Tongil Pavilion on the North Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom today, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.
A delegation, to be led by an official from South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will be sent to hold talks on the prospects of North Korea sending its performance art group to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, the Unification Ministry said in a statement.
Inter-Korean talks are held alternately at the Peace House, which is on the South Korean side of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone, and Tongil Pavilion in the North.
“In addition, the ministry also requested for a quick response for South Korea’s proposal on January 12 to have working-level talks about the North’s participation in Pyeongchang Winter Olympics,” the ministry said.
Officials from North and South last week said they had agreed to hold negotiations to resolve problems and avert accidental conflict, after their first official dialogue in more than two years amid high tension over the North’s weapons programme.
South Korea had also said that it is seeking to form a combined women’s hockey team with the North. North Korea’s International Olympics Committee (IOC) official said the committee is considering the proposal, while the two sides will also have talks hosted by IOC on January 20.
In a joint statement after 11 hours of talks on Tuesday, North and South Korea said they had agreed to hold military-to-military talks and that North Korea would send a large delegation to next month’s Winter Olympics.
Washington welcomed what it said was a first step to solving the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis, even though Pyongyang said those were aimed only at the United States and not up for discussion. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump traded barbs last year as tensions rose.
Sliders from North Korea and South Korea may share a four-man sled at next month’s games, with coaching provided by top international officials from Italy and the US. The sled wouldn’t be part of the actual Olympic competition, but one of the forerunning sleds sent down to test conditions before racing begins.
The plan hasn’t been finalised, and more talks are likely in the coming week at the IOC headquarters in Switzerland.
International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation president and IOC member Ivo Ferriani of Italy initially presented the idea. The rival Koreas would each get two spots in the sled, and the team would be trained in the days leading up to the four-man competition by Ferriani and fellow IBSF official Darrin Steele — the CEO of USA Bobsled and Skeleton.