South Korea has proposed holding military talks with the North, after weeks of heightened tension following Pyongyang’s long-range missile test.<\/p>\n
If they were to go ahead, they would be the first high-level talks since 2015.<\/p>\n
A senior official said talks should aim to stop “all hostile activities that raise military tension” at the fortified border between the Koreas.<\/p>\n
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has long signalled he wants closer engagement with the North.<\/p>\n
North Korea has not responded to the South’s proposal yet.<\/p>\n
In a recent speech in Berlin, Mr Moon said dialogue with the North was more pressing than ever and called for a peace treaty to be signed.<\/p>\n
He said such dialogue was crucial for those who seek the end of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.<\/p>\n
However, the North’s frequent missile tests, including the most recent one of an intercontinental ballistic missile, are in consistent violation of UN resolutions and have alarmed its neighbours and the US.<\/p>\n
South Korea’s Vice Defence Minister Suh Choo-suk told a media briefing that talks could be held at Tongilgak, a North Korean building in the Panmunjom compound in the demilitarised zone between the two countries, which was used to host previous talks.<\/p>\n
He proposed that the talks be held on 21 July, and said: “We expect a positive response from the North.”<\/p>\n
South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon also urged the restoration of communication hotlines between the two Koreas, cut last year after a North Korean nuclear test.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Karen Allen in Seoul says the ultimate aim of these talks would be to end the military confrontation that has dominated relations between the two Koreas for decades.<\/p>\n
But it could begin with confidence-building measures such as ending the infamous loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border, she says.<\/p>\n
The Red Cross and the government have also proposed a separate meeting, aimed at discussing how to hold reunions of families separated by the Korean War, which ended in 1953.<\/p>\n
But analysts say these could be highly fraught with Pyongyang still angry at the South’s unwillingness to repatriate high-profile defectors.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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