Seoul, Jan 9: After a long hiatus, South and North Korea began their first formal talks on
Tuesday which are centered around clearing way for a North Korean delegation to
participate in next month's Winter Olympics.
The two sides started the plenary session at about 10 a.m. local time (0630 hrs IST) with a five-member South Korean delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, and five delegates from the North Korea headed by Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, Chinese news agency Xinhua said.
Before leaving for the dialogue venue, the South Korean chief delegate told reporters that he will face the meeting "calmly and not hurriedly" to make the 2018 Winter Olympics a peaceful festival and take the first step towards improving the inter-Korean relations.
In his introductory remarks, Ri said that he hoped to give the first New Year's gift to people, which would be the "precious outcome" of the talks, by dealing well with this meeting in a sincere manner.
The South Korean Unification Minister said the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were anticipated to be a peaceful festival as the delegation, the "precious visitors," would come from North Korea.
Cho said the inter-Korean dialogue was resumed after a long hiatus, urging its North Korean counterpart to continue talks with a firm will and patience. The two sides were expected to initially focus on North Korea's participation in the South Korea-hosted winter sports event, which is scheduled to start on February 9. UNI
The two sides started the plenary session at about 10 a.m. local time (0630 hrs IST) with a five-member South Korean delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, and five delegates from the North Korea headed by Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, Chinese news agency Xinhua said.
Before leaving for the dialogue venue, the South Korean chief delegate told reporters that he will face the meeting "calmly and not hurriedly" to make the 2018 Winter Olympics a peaceful festival and take the first step towards improving the inter-Korean relations.
In his introductory remarks, Ri said that he hoped to give the first New Year's gift to people, which would be the "precious outcome" of the talks, by dealing well with this meeting in a sincere manner.
The South Korean Unification Minister said the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were anticipated to be a peaceful festival as the delegation, the "precious visitors," would come from North Korea.
Cho said the inter-Korean dialogue was resumed after a long hiatus, urging its North Korean counterpart to continue talks with a firm will and patience. The two sides were expected to initially focus on North Korea's participation in the South Korea-hosted winter sports event, which is scheduled to start on February 9. UNI
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