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South Korea Announces Talks With North to Defuse Border Tensions
South and North Korea Hold Talks to Defuse Border Tensions
(about 7 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — South and North Korea agreed to hold a high-level meeting on their border Saturday, South Korean officials said, apparently bringing at least a temporary halt to a tense standoff that has prevailed since the countries exchanged artillery fire two days ago.
SEOUL, South Korea — South and North Korea held a high-level meeting on their border on Saturday, South Korean officials said, apparently easing, at least temporarily, a tense standoff that has prevailed since the countries exchanged artillery fire two days ago.
The meeting will take place at the border village of Panmunjom, said Kim Kyou-hyun, a senior aide to President Park Geun-hye of South Korea. Mr. Kim said the meeting would include top policy makers from both sides: Kim Kwan-jin, President Park’s senior national security adviser, and Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong-so, North Korea’s most powerful military officer after Kim Jong-un, the country’s supreme leader, who holds the rank of marshal.
The meeting took place at the border village of Panmunjom, said Kim Kyou-hyun, a senior aide to President Park Geun-hye of South Korea. Mr. Kim said it included top policy makers from both sides: Kim Kwan-jin, Ms. Park’s senior national security adviser, and Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong-so, North Korea’s most powerful military officer after Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader, who holds the rank of marshal.
North Korea confirmed in a brief statement that the two sides had agreed to meet.
North Korea confirmed in a brief statement that the two sides had agreed to meet. Its state-run news media, reporting on the talks, did something it had not done for several years, raising hopes for the border meeting: It referred to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea, instead of using the North’s standard derogatory reference to “South Korean puppets.”
The announcement came just hours before a deadline of 5 p.m. that Pyongyang had given South Korea to stop broadcasting propaganda messages from loudspeakers placed along the countries’ heavily militarized border. The North had threatened “strong military action” unless the broadcasts stopped.
The announcement came just hours before a 5 p.m. deadline that North Korea had given South Korea to stop broadcasting propaganda messages from loudspeakers placed along the heavily militarized border, and the talks began shortly after the deadline. The North had threatened “strong military action” unless the broadcasts stopped.
The meeting at the border will be held at 6 p.m., said Kim Kyou-hyun, the presidential aide. He said that Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo of South Korea and Kim Yang-gon, a senior North Korean Workers’ Party secretary in charge of relations with the South, would also attend the meeting.
The meeting started at 6:30 p.m. and continued late into Saturday night, South Korean officials said. They said that Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo of South Korea and Kim Yang-gon, a senior North Korean Workers’ Party secretary in charge of relations with the South, had also taken part.
On Thursday, the two Koreas exchanged fire across their land border. No casualties were reported, but it was their most serious armed clash in five years.
On Thursday, the two Koreas exchanged fire across their border. No casualties were reported, but it was their most serious clash in five years.
South Korean officials said they believed the North had begun the firing as a warning to stop the loudspeaker broadcasts. The broadcasts, a propaganda tactic dating from the Cold War, were resumed by the South this month after 11 years, in response to the maiming of two South Korean border guards by land mines that the South accused the North of planting.
South Korean officials said they believed that the North had begun firing as a warning to stop the loudspeaker broadcasts. The South had resumed the broadcasts, a propaganda tactic dating from the Cold War, this month after 11 years, in response to the maiming of two South Korean border guards by land mines that the South accused the North of planting.
Kim Kyou-hyun, the South Korean presidential aide, said that discussions about meeting at Panmunjom had begun Friday afternoon, when Kim Yang-gon, the North Korean official, suggested it in a telegram. Discussions ensued over who would attend, and the two sides reached a final agreement to meet only on Saturday afternoon, Kim Kyou-hyun said.
Kim Kyou-hyun, the South Korean presidential aide, said that discussions about meeting at Panmunjom had begun Friday, when Kim Yang-gon, the North Korean official, suggested it in a message to the South.
The meeting Saturday would be the first high-level dialogue between the Koreas since February of last year, apart from an informal meeting in October after Vice Marshal Hwang and other North Korean officials made a surprise decision to attend the Asian Games in the South.
It was the first high-level dialogue between the Koreas since February 2014, apart from an informal meeting in October after Vice Marshal Hwang and other North Korean officials made a surprise decision to attend the Asian Games in the South.
The talks were expected to focus on the issue of the loudspeakers. The South has said it will not stop the propaganda broadcasts unless the North apologizes for planting the land mines that wounded the South Korean soldiers and punishes those responsible. North Korea has denied planting the mines; it has also denied starting the exchange of fire on Thursday, accusing the South of fabricating both incidents to divert attention from scandals that have plagued Ms. Park’s government.
In Washington, a White House official said President Obama had been briefed on the meeting.
In Yeoncheon, the South Korean county near the border where the two sides exchanged fire Thursday, nearly 3,800 people moved into underground shelters on Saturday. Officials said the residents were staying in the shelters despite the announcement of the meeting at the border.
The talks were expected to focus on the issue of the loudspeakers. The South has said it will not stop the propaganda broadcasts unless the North apologizes for planting the land mines that wounded the South Korean soldiers and punishes those responsible. North Korea has denied planting the mines; it has also denied starting the exchange of fire on Thursday, accusing the South of fabricating both episodes to divert attention from scandals that have plagued Ms. Park’s government.
Also Saturday, four American F-16 jets and four South Korean F-15K jets flew together for an hour across South Korean territory, simulating “bombing attacks on key enemy targets and maneuvers to repel enemy jets,” a South Korean Defense Ministry official said under the customary condition of anonymity.
The United States and South Korean militaries are conducting long-scheduled joint training exercises, but the official said the flight Saturday was separate from those drills and was intended as a show of force to the North.
North Korea has been under pressure from the United States, the United Nations and even its traditional ally China to refrain from raising tensions further. China urged both Koreas on Friday to “stay calm and use restraint,” but North Korea issued a defiant statement hours later saying that “no one’s talk about self-restraint is helpful to putting the situation under control.”
