North Korea notifies South Korea of delegation to June 14 military talks

Published : Jun 12, 2018 - 12:42 Updated : Jun 12, 2018 - 16:21

North Korea on Tuesday informed South Korea of its delegation for upcoming inter-Korean military talks scheduled for Thursday, amid heightened expectations for the easing of cross-border tensions following a series of cross-border summits.

Led by Army Lt. Gen Ahn Ik-san, a total of five delegates will attend the general-level military talks scheduled to take place at Panmungak, a North Korean building inside the truce village of Panmunjeom, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said,

The announcement came a day after the Defense Ministry informed North Korea of its own delegation list. Five South Korean delegates will attend the military talks, led by Army Maj. Gen Kim Do-kyun, who deals with inter-Korean relations at the Defense Ministry.

“We made a proposal (to North Korea) that (the two Koreas) will discuss military issues to ease military tensions on the Korean Peninsula and reduce the risk of war,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

This image shows Tongilgak, a North Korea-controlled building at Panmunjeom. (Cheong Wa Dae-Yonhap)

The ministry added that the military talks would serve to fulfill the Panmunjeom Declaration adopted after the inter-Korean summit in April, when South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un proclaimed “there is no more war on the Korean Peninsula.”
The joint declaration calls for the two Koreas to completely cease all hostile acts against each other in every domain, including land, air and sea. In that vein, the two sides pledged to transform the demilitarized zone and waters close to North Korea into a “peace zone.”

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)