(Reuters) — Aides to the leaders of North and South Korea on Sunday (August 23) agreed to resume high-level talks, after almost ten hours of a rare meeting.
Senior politicians of North and South Korea held talks at the Panmunjom truce village straddling their border on Saturday (August 22) and into the early hours of Sunday, raising hopes for an end to a standoff that put the rivals on the brink of armed conflict.
“During the meeting, North and South Korea discussed on how to resolve recent tensions and improve ties. The talks has been adjourned at 04:15 a.m. (1915 GMT) and the two sides agreed to resume discussions at 03:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) on August 23 to discuuss their differences,” South Korean presidential office’s spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.
North Korean Director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army, Hwang Pyong So, North Korean Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, Kim Yang Gon, South Korean Director of National Security Office, Kim Kwan-jin, and South Korean Unification Minister, Hong Yong-pyo attended at the meeting.
The meeting at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) village, known for its sky-blue huts and grim-faced soldiers, was set for half an hour after North Korea’s previously set ultimatum demanding that the South halt its loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border or face military action.
That deadline passed without any reported incidents.
Tension on the Korean peninsula has been running high since an exchange of artillery fire on Thursday (August 20), prompting calls for calm from the United Nations, the United States and the North’s lone major ally, China. South Korea’s military remained on high alert despite the announced talks, a defence official said.