North, South Korea to hold high-level inter-Korea talks on May 16

Photo: Reuters

SEOUL: North Korea and South Korea agreed on Tuesday to hold high-level inter-Korea talks on May 16 to discuss steps needed to uphold the pledge to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, South Korea`s Unification Ministry said. 

The meeting will discuss specific plans needed to carry out the April 27 inter-Korea summit declaration, which includes pledges to finally end a seven-decade war this year, and pursue "complete denuclearisation".

"The South and North will hold a high-level inter-Korea meeting on May 16 in the Peace House in Panmunjom, to discuss implementation of `Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula," the Unification Ministry said in a statement.

The meeting would be the latest in a series of actions taken by North Korea that have spurred hopes that the seven-decade conflict on the Korean Peninsula may be coming to an end. 

North Korea has scheduled the dismantlement of its nuclear bomb test site for sometime between May 23-25 in order to uphold its pledge to discontinue nuclear tests, the country`s state media reported on Saturday, a month ahead of a planned North Korea-U.S. summit in Singapore.

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet on June 12, a scenario that seemed improbable given the insults and threats exchanged between the two leaders in the past year. 

Wednesday`s inter-Korea talks will see North Korea send a 29-member delegation led by Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the ‘Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the country`. 
Also in the delegation will be Kim Yun-hyok, vice minister of Railways, and Won Kil-U, vice minister of Physical Culture and Sports.

From South Korea, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will led a team of five.