Olympics bring Koreas together
North and South start talks that focus on the Games but could lead to broader dialogue.
SEOUL — The first formal diplomatic talks between North and South Korea in more than two years began Tuesday as the countries seek a participation agreement ahead of the Winter Olympics next month.
The “high-level” meetings were expected to focus initially on North Korea’s potential involvement in the Games. But the talks could lead to a broader dialogue about improving inter-Korean relations, which have soured in recent years.
The two countries, parties to an uneasy truce since the end of the Korean War, severed their remaining ties in early 2016 after the closure of a shared industrial complex in the border village of Kaesong, North Korea.
Both sides now seem eager to craft a deal allowing the North to send a delegation to the Olympics, hosted by South Korea in the eastern skiing and tourist village of Pyeongchang.
The talks opened about 10 a.m. with lead negotiators for both delegations exchanging pleasantries and opening statements.
The South’s unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, recalled last year’s historic street protests in Seoul and across his country that led to the ouster of then-President Park Geun-hye amid corruption.
“Last year, South Korea experienced how strong people’s will is. And we are clearly aware of people’s desire for the reconciliation and peace between the two Koreas,” he said. “People’s will is heaven’s will, and we will have to engage in today’s meeting earnestly and sincerely to fulfill people’s will.”
His North Korean counterpart, Ri Son Gwon, struck a similar tone, referring to “heaven’s will” in his opening remarks.
“I came today, hoping that the North and South engage in today’s meeting with sincere, earnest attitude and present the first gift of the new year to the Korean people, who are watching today’s meeting with high anticipation,” he said.
Two figure skaters from the North initially qualified for the Games, but they missed a deadline to compete. Their participation now could require permission from the International Olympic Committee, perhaps at Seoul’s request.
Also unknown is whether the North might send government officials to South Korea to attend the events, which run Feb. 9-25. The Winter Paralympics begin in March.
The talks are being held in a diplomatic building at Panmunjom, a border outpost in the demilitarized zone, the 160-mile-long buffer area separating the two nations.
The 30-mile bus ride north to the negotiation site by South Korean officials was carried live on television in Seoul. Journalists and photographers also crowded onto Tong-il Bridge at the border early Tuesday as the South’s negotiators passed into the DMZ, where entry by civilians generally requires permission and escorts.
Although the initial scope of the talks remains the Olympics, South Korean officials expressed hope that the meeting might reduce tensions on the peninsula over the North’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
That could lead to greater cooperation on other issues, such as reuniting families still separated by the Korean War, which has divided the peninsula for the last six decades.
The South had proposed talks over such reunification issues in July, but the North never responded.
An agreement to hold the talks came together quickly after the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, made unusually conciliatory statements during a New Year’s Day speech last week. The young leader said he hoped the Games would be a success and raised the issue of sending a delegation to Pyeongchang.
The South, whose president, Moon Jae-in, has hoped to use the Games as a catalyst for peace and better relations with the North, promptly offered to sit for talks. The Trump administration has supported the idea, announcing a delay in U.S.-South Korean military drills — a source of annual frustration for the North — until after the Games.
A long-dormant communications channel between the countries was then reopened, allowing the details of the meeting to be arranged by phone and fax machine.
Moon remains popular in South Korea six months into his term, with an approval rating of roughly 70%. But his desire for talks has political risks, especially among conservatives skeptical of the North’s overtures.
“What this government is doing is not eradicating nuclear weapons, but maintaining the status quo, begging for peace and letting more time pass by,” said Hong Joon-pyo, who chairs the conservative Liberty Party Korea, Moon’s main opposition.
The talks, which could last into the week, are the first since 2015. High-level delegations met at the same location then to discuss a border standoff that threatened to spill over into armed conflict after two South Korean soldiers were maimed by landmines. The South believed they were planted by the North, but Pyongyang denied the allegation.
Two months later, thenPresident Park temporarily closed the Kaesong complex, a joint economic zone in which hundreds of South Korean companies employed thousands of North Korean workers.
Park made the decision in response to North Korean provocations, including an underground nuclear test. The North then seized South Korean assets in the factories, leading to two years of frozen relations.