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North and South Korea begin first talks in more than two years North Korea agrees to send delegation to Winter Olympics after talks with South
(about 1 hour later)
North and South Korea have begun their first official talks for more than two years to decide whether athletes from the North will participate in next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. North Korea will send a high-level delegation and a team of cheerleaders to next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, after the two countries held their first official talks for more than two years.
The talks, which began on Tuesday morning just south of the border separating the two countries, represent a cautious diplomatic breakthrough after months of rising tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. It was not immediately clear if competing athletes would be part of the North Korean party, which will include artists, a taekwondo demonstration team and journalists.
The discussions will focus on North Korean participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Games, which open on 9 February, but could also include other inter-Korean issues such as the resumption of reunions between family members split apart at the end of the 1950-53 Korean war, according to media reports. The agreement, which came during discussions on Tuesday morning just south of the border separating the two countries, represent a cautious diplomatic breakthrough after months of rising tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. Reports said the meeting was adjourned at 12.20 pm local time, after more than two hours of discussions, and would resume later in the afternoon.
The five-member North Korean delegation travelled to the border in a motorcade and then walked across the military demarcation line into the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom at around 9:30 am local time, according to the unification ministry. The North may have found a way to make a nuclear warhead small enough to put on a missile, but firing one at the South is likely to provoke retaliation in kind, which would end the regime. 
The village straddles the demilitarised zone [DMZ], the heavily armed border that has separated the two Koreas for more than six decades. Pyongyang has enough conventional artillery to do significant damage to Seoul, but the quality of its gunners and munitions is dubious, and the same problem – retaliation from the South and its allies - remains.
Discussions are expected to focus on whether athletes from the two Koreas will make joint entrances to the opening and closing ceremonies, as they did in Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. In the event of a non-nuclear attack, Seoul's residents would act on years of experience of civil defence drills, and rush to the bomb shelters dotted around the city, increasing their chances of survival.
“Today, North and South Korea will engage in talks in a serious and sincere stance,” said Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North’s committee for the peaceful reunification of the fatherland and head of the country’s delegation to the talks. “They will go well.” Reuters reported that South Korean negotiators had also proposed military talks designed to ease tensions on the peninsula and reduce the chances of a conflict breaking out due to an accident or miscalculation.
Discussions have focused on North Korean participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Games, which open on 9 February, but are also thought to have included other inter-Korean issues such as the resumption of reunions between family members split apart at the end of the 1950-53 Korean war, according to media reports.
The five-member North Korean delegation travelled to the border in a motorcade and then walked across the military demarcation line into the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom at around 9.30 am local time, according to the unification ministry.
The village straddles the demilitarised zone (DMZ), the heavily armed border that has separated the two Koreas for more than six decades.
Issues to be resolved include whether athletes from the two Koreas will make joint entrances to the opening and closing ceremonies, as they did in Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin.
“Today, North and South Korea will engage in talks in a serious and sincere stance,” said Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North’s committee for the peaceful reunification of the fatherland and head of the country’s delegation ahead of the talks. “They will go well.”
The South Korean unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, said: “We will make efforts to make the Pyeongchang games and the Paralympics a ‘peace festival’ and help it serve as the first step toward an improvement in inter-Korean ties.The South Korean unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, said: “We will make efforts to make the Pyeongchang games and the Paralympics a ‘peace festival’ and help it serve as the first step toward an improvement in inter-Korean ties.
“To meet people’s expectations, we will not be in a hurry and we will hold the talks in a calm manner.”“To meet people’s expectations, we will not be in a hurry and we will hold the talks in a calm manner.”
Cho and Ri shook hands at the entrance to the Peace House, which will host the talks, and again across the table, official pictures showed. The venue is just south of the demarcation line that runs through the centre of the DMZ and is close to the scene of a dramatic defection last month by a North Korean soldier. Cho and Ri shook hands at the entrance to the Peace House, which hosted the talks, and again across the table, official pictures showed. The venue is just south of the demarcation line that runs through the centre of the DMZ and is close to the scene of a dramatic defection last month by a North Korean soldier.
Preparation for the resumption of high-level dialogue – albeit focusing on sport rather than security - have proceeded at breakneck speed since New Year’s Day, when the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, said he hoped the Pyeongchang games would be a success, adding that he was willing to discuss North Korean participation. Preparation for the resumption of high-level dialogue – albeit focusing on sport rather than security – have proceeded at breakneck speed since New Year’s Day, when the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, said he hoped the Pyeongchang games would be a success, adding that he was willing to discuss North Korean participation.
That was quickly followed by the reopening of a cross-border hotline that had not been used for almost two years.That was quickly followed by the reopening of a cross-border hotline that had not been used for almost two years.
The North agreed to meet on Tuesday after Seoul and Washington said they would delay joint military exercises until after the Winter Paralympics end on 18 March.The North agreed to meet on Tuesday after Seoul and Washington said they would delay joint military exercises until after the Winter Paralympics end on 18 March.
North Korea regards the drills, which the allies say are designed to demonstrate their overwhelming conventional firepower, as a rehearsal for an invasion and has often cited them as an obstacle to dialogue.North Korea regards the drills, which the allies say are designed to demonstrate their overwhelming conventional firepower, as a rehearsal for an invasion and has often cited them as an obstacle to dialogue.
Katina Adams, a spokeswoman for the US state department, did not respond directly to suggestions that the two Koreas could march under a single flag at the Pyeongchang opening ceremony and possibly compete as a single nation in some events.Katina Adams, a spokeswoman for the US state department, did not respond directly to suggestions that the two Koreas could march under a single flag at the Pyeongchang opening ceremony and possibly compete as a single nation in some events.
The US, Adams added, remained “clear-eyed about (North Korea’s) track record when it comes to negotiations” and added: “Time will tell if this is a genuine gesture”. The US, Adams added, remained “clear-eyed about [North Korea’s] track record when it comes to negotiations”, and added: “Time will tell if this is a genuine gesture.”