Two Koreas meet to reduce military tension ahead of summit

The two Koreas held working-level military talks at the border village of Panmunjeom, Thursday, to discuss a series of pending issues to ease military tension ahead of a planned summit between their two leaders next week..

Starting at 10 a.m., a three-member South Korean military delegation — led by Army Colonel Cho Yong-geun — met with their North Korean counterparts headed by Colonel Om Chang-nam. The meeting was held in Tongilgak, a building on the northern side of the inter-Korean border village, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

Details of the closed-door discussions have yet to be revealed; but expectations are that Seoul and Pyongyang were fine-tuning military issues to be discussed during the three-day summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Their agenda included disarmament in the Joint Security Area at Panmunjeom, and the repatriation of war remains. The specific timetable for unmanning guard posts along the border may also have been brought up.

The two Koreas have in recent months engaged in a series of military dialogues to ease military tension after leaders from both sides agreed to build peace on the Korean Peninsula in their first summit, April 27.

“We can share the details after the talks finish,” ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said in a media briefing. The two Koreas are expected to sign a “comprehensive military agreement” during the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang next week. In July, both sides held generals talks where they agreed to take concrete steps to alleviate military tension on the peninsula. They include the aforementioned issues and completely ending all hostile activities.

National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong also said the two Koreas were in talks to sign details to stop possible military conflict on land, sea and in the air.

“The two Koreas are on track to reach agreements on details to guarantee peace on the peninsula in a move to eliminate potential war risks,” Chung said in a keynote speech during this year’s Seoul Defense Dialogue.

He said the two Koreas’ ongoing efforts to ease military tension will give the North the motivation to speed up its denuclearization.