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Let's start with the fresh scent of diplomacy that's in the air between the two Koreas...
Senior officials from South and North Korea are locked in high-level talks right now at
the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom.
The meeting -- the first between the North and South in several years -- comes a matter
of days ahead of a round of reunions for families separated since the Korean War.
For more details, we are going connect live to our correspondent Hwang Sung-hee at the
Unification Ministry. Sung-hee, what's the latest?
The opening session began at around 10 o'clock this morning,... about two hours ago,... and
the officials should now be taking a break since it is lunch time here in Korea.
The South Korean delegation left for the truce village of Panmunjom, where the talks are
being held, at around 7:30 this morning. Kim Kyou-hyun, South Korea's chief delegate,
told reporters that he will pour all his efforts into holding fruitful discussions.
"I will engage in the talks with an open attitude to study an opportunity to ring in a new era
on the Korean peninsula."
South Korea's five-member delegation is composed of officials from the presidential office
of Cheong Wa Dae, the unification ministry and the defense ministry.
The North Korean delegation is led by Won ***-yon, deputy head of the United Front
Department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, with officials from the National Defence
Commission, the military and the Committee for the
Peaceful Reunification of Korea. The meeting was proposed by North Korea last
Saturday and the two sides will be discussing pressing inter-Korean issues.
So, we hear the two Koreas have not set a specific agenda on what will be discussed
at the talks. What topics are expected to be brought up
today?
It's very rare for the two Koreas to meet for talks without a fixed agenda.
The South Korean chief delegate told reporters this morning that the South will focus on
making sure the upcoming family reunions take place as planned.
The Koreas are scheduled to resume the reunions from February 20th to the 25th, and if held,
it will be the first such event in more than three years.
However, the reunion event won't be North Korea's top priority at today's meeting.
Experts say Pyongyang will be seeking to stop the upcoming joint military exercises between
Seoul and Washington, scheduled to begin at the end of this month.
South Korea and the U.S. say the drills are defensive in nature, but the North views them
as a practice for war and has repeatedly called for the exercises to be canceled.
North Korea had earlier threatened to reconsider its agreement to hold the family reunions,
should the joint military exercises take place as planned.
Thank you, Sung-hee and please do keep us updated throughout the day.
That was our unification ministry correspondent Hwang Sung-hee with the latest on the first
high-level talks between the two Koreas in seven years.