Koreas | North, South hold border talks to discuss improved ties

S Korea’s chief delegate Kim Kiwoong, right, talks with his N Korean counterpart Hwang Chol during a meeting at the border village of Panmunjom, N Korea yesterday

Officials from the two Koreas met yesterday at a border village to try to realize high-level talks as part of their agreements that defused a military standoff in August.
The rivals threatened war against each other last summer over land mine explosions blamed on Pyongyang that maimed two South Korean soldiers. The standoff was eased later in August when the Koreas met for marathon talks and agreed on a set of tension-reduction deals that includes resuming talks between senior officials.
Yesterday’s meeting was aimed at discussing when and where those high-level talks should be held with what agenda, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry.
The Koreas said in late August they would hold the high-level talks either in Seoul or Pyongyang in the near future to discuss how to improve ties.
Last month, the two Koreas held reunions of families separated by war for the first time since February 2014, a sign that they were carrying out on reconciliation efforts stipulated in the August agreements.
There are still continuing animosities between the rivals, which remain divided along the world’s most heavily fortified border since their 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. AP