Rival Koreas’ generals discuss easing tension
SEOUL: Generals from the rival Koreas met yesterday at their shared border for talks meant to ease a decades-long military standoff, the second such meeting since their leaders met for a landmark summit in April and pledged to reduce the danger of another war on the peninsula.
The meeting comes days after North Korea returned the reported remains of US war dead, the most recent sign of blossoming diplomacy after last year’s threats of war.
The Korean generals were discussing ways to implement the inter-Korean summit agreements on non-nuclear military issues, but no huge announcement is expected from the talks at the border village of Panmunjom. Some experts say South Korea can’t agree on any drastic measures to reduce animosity unless the North takes serious nuclear disarmament steps.
During the April 27 summit, the leaders of the Koreas agreed to disarm a jointly controlled area at Panmunjom, work to prevent accidental clashes along their disputed western sea boundary and halt all hostile acts. Since then, the Koreas have dismantled their front-line propaganda loudspeakers, restored a military hot line and held their first general-level talks since 2007.
Yesterday’s meeting was expected to discuss dropping the number of military guards at Panmunjom, withdrawing heavy weapons from the area and pulling some army guard posts away from the Demilitarised Zone, a buffer zone that separates the two countries.
They may also talk about ways to make sure their fishermen peacefully operate along the Korean sea boundary, the site of several bloody naval skirmishes in recent years.
The Defence Ministry would not discuss any detailed agenda for the talks.
The meeting began in an amicable manner with delegates from both countries saying they expected to produce a meaningful outcome.
Chief North Korean delegate Lieutenant-General An Ik San said he felt a “sense of mission” to contribute to peace and co-prosperity between the Koreas.
His South Korean counterpart, Major-General Kim Do Gyun said he was confident the talks would produce “achievements that South and North Korea and the international community want”, according to South Korean media reports.
Last Friday, North Korea returned what were said to be the remains of dozens of American soldiers missing from the 1950-53 Korean War, something leader Kim Jongun promised during a June summit with President Donald Trump.
Trump thanked Kim for “fulfilling a promise” and said it was a step in the right direction.
During the Singapore meeting, Kim also committed to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, while Trump promised to provide him with security assurances. But there have been worries that North Korea hasn’t since taken any serious disarmament measures.
The North suspended its missile and nuclear tests and shut down its nuclear test site, and recent satellite photos indicated the country had also begun dismantling key facilities at its main rocket launch site.
But many foreign experts say those were not enough to prove it was serious about its disarmament commitment, saying the North must first submit a list of nuclear assets to be dismantled.
As a reward for returning the US war dead, North Korea may demand that the US agree on a declaration to end the Korean War as a US security guarantee. That issue could be discussed at the current meeting, according to analyst Cho Han Bum at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification.
The Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in a technical state of war. North Korea has long argued its nukes are aimed at coping with US military threats, saying it wants to sign a peace treaty with the US to formally end the war.
That could then allow the North to demand the pullout of 28500 US troops deployed in South Korea. – AP