Vehicles carrying the South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and other delegations arrive at Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjeom in the demilitarised zone in Paju, South Korea, on Tuesday. Photo: AP
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https://scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2127390/rare-talks-between-north-and-south-korea-under-way-border East Asia
North and South Korea begin rare talks on border, in push for peace during Olympics
‘We will make our best efforts to make the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympics become a peaceful festival’
South Korean Unification Minister and chief delegate Cho Myoung-gyon (centre) and delegates pose at the South-North Dialogue Secretariat building in Seoul before leaving for the border village of Panmunjom. Photo: EPA
North and South Korea were holding rare talks at their tense border on Tuesday to discuss how to co-operate in next month’s Winter Olympics in the South and improve their long-strained ties.
Senior South Korean officials left Seoul early in the morning for the meeting in the demilitarised zone that divides the two countries.
The rival Koreas’ first formal talks in about two years came about as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes an apparent push for improved ties with the South after a year of elevated tension over his country’s nuclear and missile tests.
Critics of the meeting say Kim may be trying to divide Seoul and Washington in a bid to weaken international pressure and sanctions over the tests. The talks were scheduled to have begun at 10am (9am Hong Kong time).
In his New Year’s Day address, Kim said there was an urgent need to improve inter-Korean ties and that he was willing to send a delegation to the February 9-25 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He urged Seoul to halt its annual military drills with Washington, which he called a rehearsal for an invasion, and said he has a “nuclear button” to launch missiles at anywhere in the United States.
Moon, a liberal who favours dialogue as a way to defuse the North Korean nuclear stand-off, welcomed Kim’s outreach and proposed Tuesday’s talks at the border village of Panmunjeom. Kim quickly accepted Moon’s offer.
“We will make our best efforts to make the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympics become a peaceful festival, and that (the talks) become a good first step,” South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told reporters before departing. “We will also calmly participate in the talks without rushing, in accordance with expectations of our people.” 
South Korean Unification Minister and chief delegate Cho Myoung-gyon leaves Seoul for the border village of Panmunjom to attend inter-Korean high-level talks to discuss Pyongyang's possible participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February and ways to improve their long-stalled ties. Photo: EPA
South Korean soldiers stand guard before South Korea’s delegation vehicles arrive at Unification Bridge, which leads to Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone on Tuesday. Photo: AP
South Korean officials said they would focus first on Olympic cooperation before dealing with tougher political and military issues. Moon’s government wants North Korea to take part in the Games as a way to improve relations.
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he hopes some progress results from Tuesday’s talks. But Trump’s UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, said Sunday the US administration is not changing its conditions for talks with North Korea, saying Kim would first need to stop weapons testing for a “significant amount of time”.
The Trump administration agreed last week to delay upcoming springtime military drills with South Korea until after the Games. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis insisted the delay was a practical necessity to accommodate the Olympics, not a political gesture.
Trump and Kim traded bellicose warlike rhetoric and even crude insults last year, as the North conducted it sixth and most powerful nuclear detonation and three tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles.