SEOUL, June 9 (RIA Novosti) – North and South Korea have agreed to hold a ministerial meeting in Seoul next week that can help build mutual trust and ease tension on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday, referring to a government official.
The two sides met on Sunday morning for the first government-level talks in years at the truce village of Panmunjom to exchange views on the protocol, location, the agenda and size of the delegation to be present at Wednesday's ministerial meeting planned for Seoul, Yonhap reported, referring to the South Korean Ministry of Unification.
"The two sides shared the same understanding in regards to the ministers' meeting," Yonhap quoted ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk as saying.
The meeting took place in a calm atmosphere, without the discussion of any particular contentious issues, the government official said.
The meeting came after North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) called for working-level talks on Friday following its earlier proposal to hold government-level talks to resolve issues such as the Kaesong Industrial Complex, Mount Kumgang tours and reunions of families separated by the Korean War of 1950-53.
Seoul has accepted the government-to-government talks and proposed holding a ministerial-level meeting so that all key issues can be discussed by responsible officials, Yonhap said.
Tensions rose sharply on the Korean Peninsula in December after North Korea tested a Taepodong 2 long-range missile and again in February when it carried out its third nuclear test. The UN hit back with sanctions, and the start of joint military drills between South Korea and the United States in March further irritated the North, which threatened to carry out a nuclear attack on the US mainland, as well as on US forces in the region.
In a further sign of escalating tensions between the North and South, Pyongyang suspended from April all operations at the Industrial Complex in the border city of Kaesong and pulled out all of its 53,000 staff working for the 123 South Korean companies. Six days before, the North banned South Korean personnel from entering the complex.
