Exchanges and cooperation between two Koreas gaining speed on various fronts - PART 1
- 6 years ago
After weeks of talks across various fields,... the two Koreas are taking a short summer break from high-level face-to-face dialogue.
But that doesn't mean there's nothing going on: Seoul and Pyongyang are working hard to implement what was agreed by the two leaders during their big summit at Panmunjom in April.
As a refresher, we thought it'd be good to give you an update on where the two Koreas stand right now.
In the first of a two-part series of reports,... here's Oh Jung-hee.
It was a hectic few weeks after the inter-Korean high-level talks in early June,... ( )with an array of talks and events taking place between the two Koreas.
Inter-Korean military talks, Red Cross talks and sports talks were held... and meetings to discuss cooperation on railway and road connections and forestation projects followed.
A huge South Korean delegation of over 100 people visited North Korea earlier this month for the first inter-Korean basketball games in 15 years.
And just this week, the South and North Korean military authorities fully restored their West Sea communication line -- a move that further lowers tension... following the halting of loudspeaker broadcasts and stopping of propaganda leaflet distribution.
And the two Koreas are getting ready for a lot more cooperation to come.
In our two-part series, we go through each of these categories that Seoul and Pyongyang are working on together.
1.
The two Koreas began work in early June to set up a joint liaison office at the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
It's where officials from South and North Korea will be stationed to make person-to-person contact,... which will, in the end, serve as a direct communication channel between South and North.
The two Koreas are now renovating the facilities there at the factory park,... because they've not been used for over two years since the complex was shut down in February 2016.
They are hoping to open up the office by mid-August.
2.
Renovations are also underway at the venue for next month's reunions of families separated by the Korean War.
At the Red Cross talks last month, the two Koreas agreed to hold family reunion events for a week starting August 20th at the North's Mount Kumgang... with 100 participants each from South and North Korea.
For that, a team of South Koreans will be at Mount Kumgang until mid-August,... repairing and renovating the meeting rooms, rest areas, hotels and others.
Seoul and Pyongyang have also exchanged their lists of candidates for the family reunions.
They'll check whose family members remain alive... and exchange the final list of participants in early August.
3.
It's not an exaggeration to say that sports is the field where the most is happening in terms of inter-Korean exchanges -- opportunities are lined up one after another.
Right now, North Korean athletes are participating in the Korea Open Table Tennis Competition in Daejeon,... forming unified teams with South Korean players in men's and women's
But that doesn't mean there's nothing going on: Seoul and Pyongyang are working hard to implement what was agreed by the two leaders during their big summit at Panmunjom in April.
As a refresher, we thought it'd be good to give you an update on where the two Koreas stand right now.
In the first of a two-part series of reports,... here's Oh Jung-hee.
It was a hectic few weeks after the inter-Korean high-level talks in early June,... ( )with an array of talks and events taking place between the two Koreas.
Inter-Korean military talks, Red Cross talks and sports talks were held... and meetings to discuss cooperation on railway and road connections and forestation projects followed.
A huge South Korean delegation of over 100 people visited North Korea earlier this month for the first inter-Korean basketball games in 15 years.
And just this week, the South and North Korean military authorities fully restored their West Sea communication line -- a move that further lowers tension... following the halting of loudspeaker broadcasts and stopping of propaganda leaflet distribution.
And the two Koreas are getting ready for a lot more cooperation to come.
In our two-part series, we go through each of these categories that Seoul and Pyongyang are working on together.
1.
The two Koreas began work in early June to set up a joint liaison office at the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
It's where officials from South and North Korea will be stationed to make person-to-person contact,... which will, in the end, serve as a direct communication channel between South and North.
The two Koreas are now renovating the facilities there at the factory park,... because they've not been used for over two years since the complex was shut down in February 2016.
They are hoping to open up the office by mid-August.
2.
Renovations are also underway at the venue for next month's reunions of families separated by the Korean War.
At the Red Cross talks last month, the two Koreas agreed to hold family reunion events for a week starting August 20th at the North's Mount Kumgang... with 100 participants each from South and North Korea.
For that, a team of South Koreans will be at Mount Kumgang until mid-August,... repairing and renovating the meeting rooms, rest areas, hotels and others.
Seoul and Pyongyang have also exchanged their lists of candidates for the family reunions.
They'll check whose family members remain alive... and exchange the final list of participants in early August.
3.
It's not an exaggeration to say that sports is the field where the most is happening in terms of inter-Korean exchanges -- opportunities are lined up one after another.
Right now, North Korean athletes are participating in the Korea Open Table Tennis Competition in Daejeon,... forming unified teams with South Korean players in men's and women's