High-ranking North and South Korean officials met for the first high-level talks between the opposing states in seven years. The talks took place in the peaceful South Korean village of Panmunjom near the heavily guarded border between the two nations.
USA Today reports that no results from the meetings have yet been reported.
Main points on the agenda most likely included the scheduled reunion of Korean families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, and the large-scale military exercises the South plans on conducting in cooperation with the U.S., which proved to be a point of contention in 2013.
"No agenda was set prior to this meeting," Kim Eui-do, a spokesman for the South Korean Unification Ministry said before the meeting, according to CNN. "But we expect that there will be comprehensive dialogue on the smooth operation of these family reunions, holding the family reunions on a regular basis and other important areas of interest."
Pyongyang officials requested the meeting, an action in line with a recent series of attempts to improve tense relations with South Korea. Seoul officials support a continuing dialogue, but cautioned that North Korea most likely won't make the cutbacks to their nuclear program the U.S. has demanded.
The North Koreans "are using this dialogue to gain support from South Korean public opinion. They are playing a game," said Choi Jinwook, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification. "This is a charm offensive, it's too early to say this is a policy change."
The talks occurred just before a scheduled South Korean visit from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry visits Seoul officials on Thursday and Friday to discuss Pyongyang relations. Afterwards, he flies to China, the North's only significant ally.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
