Seoul has proposed rare military talks to North Korea for as early as this week, saying that the negotiations may “ease tensions” and establish long-awaited peace on the Korean Peninsula, where the states are technically still at war with each other.
“Talks and cooperation between the two Koreas to ease tension and bring about peace on the Korean Peninsula will be instrumental for pushing forth a mutual, virtuous cycle for inter-Korea relations and North Korea’s nuclear problem, ” the South’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said at a news briefing on Monday, as cited by Reuters.
Seoul “has no hostile policy toward North Korea, ” according to the South’s unification minister.
“… As [President Moon Jae-in] clearly stated in his Berlin doctrine that he will never pursue the collapse of North Korea and an absorption-based reunification, ” Cho said in a statement, as cited by Yonhap.
The South Korean Defense Ministry proposed negotiations with Pyongyang on July 21. The talks may be held at Tongilgak, a building at the Panmunjom truce village in North Korea, which was previously used for negotiations between the sides.
The last time talks between Seoul and Pyongyang took place, was in December 2015.
