DPRK, ROK to hold military talks on July 31
SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) agreed to hold general-level military talks on Tuesday, Seoul's Defense Ministry said Friday.
The DPRK side proposed the talks, which the ROK side accepted, according to the Defense Ministry.
The general-level military dialogue would be held on July 31 at Peace House, a ROK building at the border village of Panmunjom.
The ROK delegation would be led by Maj. Gen. Kim Do-gyun who will talk with his DPRK counterpart Lt. Gen. An Ik-san leading a five-member delegation.
Issues to de discussed were expected to be the disarmament of the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the Panmunjom and the withdrawal of troops and equipment from guard posts inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas.
After their first summit on April 27 in Panmunjom, ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un agreed to stop all hostile acts near the border area to reduce military tensions.
Other issues to be on the dialogue agenda could be the joint excavation inside the DMZ of the remains of soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
The ROK could reportedly raise the issue for turning the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de-facto inter-Korean sea border, into a maritime peace zone.
The DPRK has not acknowledged the NLL as a sea border as it was unilaterally drawn by the US-led UN Command after the Korean War.
On June 14, the two Koreas held the first general-grade military talks in over a decade, agreeing to restore military hotlines along the eastern and western regions completely.
