DPRK to send high-level delegation to ROK-hosted Winter Olympics

During the session, ROK proposed holding a Red Cross dialogue for the reunion of separate families during the upcoming Lunar New Year in February as well as inter-Korean talks between the military authorities to prevent possible clashes near the military demarcation line (MDL) by accident.

Talks with Pyongyang about humanitarian and military issues were already suggested by Seoul in July last year.

The reunion of the families divided as a result of the 1950-1953 Korean War across the two Koreas was an emotionally-charging issue as it was sparsely held on the basis of political situations.

People from the ROK and the DPRK have been banned from visiting and contacting each other since the Korean War ended in armistice instead of a peace treaty. The Korean Peninsula remains technically in a state of war.

The ROK side also offered to resume talks with the DPRK to stop any hostile act on the Korean Peninsula and build peace by rapidly denuclearizing the peninsula.

In response, the DPRK said issues should be resolved through dialogue and negotiations to promote reconciliation and unity and secure peace on the peninsula.

Seoul's unification ministry said the two sides exchanged broad, in-depth opinions with each other. After lunch, the two sides would resume talks in the afternoon.