Hopes rise as two Koreas open de facto joint embassy on North's side of border

[webfact]

Hopes rise as two Koreas open de facto joint embassy on North's side of border

By Joyce Lee

 

FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walk together at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, South Korea, April 27, 2018. Korea Summit Press Pool/Pool via Reuters

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korea will open a joint liaison office on the North's side of the heavily militarised border on Friday, a South Korean official said, as hopes rise for progress in stalled denuclearisation talks at a summit next week.

 

The joint liaison office, seen as the start of a de facto embassy, is another step towards closer cooperation between the two Koreas.

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will hold their third meeting this year in Pyongyang next week, when it is hoped they can help resolve a diplomatic impasse between the United States and North Korea.

 

The South Korean government had hoped to open the office by August but it was delayed when denuclearisation talks between the United States and North Korea stalled after an historic summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in June.

 

However, Kim sent a message to South Korean envoys last week that he wants to achieve denuclearisation during Trump's first term. That followed what Trump described as a "very warm" letter from Kim requesting another meeting, which rekindled hopes for progress.

 

The two Koreas previously communicated by fax and special phone lines, which were at times cut off when inter-Korean relations sank, but will now be able to "communicate 24 hours, 365 days", South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said this week.

 

Vice minister-level officials from North and South respectively will head the new office and will also serve as permanent negotiation representatives at weekly meetings, Baik said.

 

"We will manage inter-Korean relations stably and hope that this will also help the progress of denuclearisation talks between North Korea and the United States," he said.

 

About 50-60 people each from North and South Korea will attend an opening ceremony for the new office on Friday, the unification ministry said.

 

It is located in Kaesong on North Korea's side of the border, about 60 km (37 miles) from Seoul and 141 km from Pyongyang.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-14

[puck2]

It would be great to see them officially finishing the Korean War. I wish them good luck. We Germans can understand them.

 

We don't know about details in the background. Especially why Kim is changing his attitude. For a peace treaty they need the Yes of the big powers, China and US. Kim is clever enough to "enjoy" Trump by lauding him.

[from the home of CC]

I'd love to see the North Korean people finally have some sort of progression to a normal life but I'm not hopeful.