ROK, DPRK agree to hold military, Red Cross, sports talks in June

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed Friday to hold talks later this month about military affairs, humanitarian issues and sports exchange.

The agreement was reached after high-level officials from the two sides met at the border village of Panmunjom to discuss the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration.

The declaration was signed by ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un after holding their first summit on April 27. The second surprise summit was held between the leaders on May 26 in Panmunjom.

Following the high-level inter-Korean dialogue, the two sides agreed to hold general-level military talks on June 14 at Tongilgak, a DPRK building in Panmunjom that straddles the heavily armed inter-Korean land border.

To resolve the humanitarian issues, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to hold a Red Cross dialogue on June 22 in Mount Kumgang, a scenic resort mountain in the DPRK's southeastern region.

To enhance inter-Korean sports exchange, the two sides agreed to hold talks on June 18 at Peace House, a building controlled by the ROK in Panmunjom.

The ROK and the DPRK agreed to set up a joint liaison office in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong in the near future.

The two Koreas agreed to continue discussions via exchange of letters about how to hold a joint event to celebrate the first-ever inter-Korean summit in the ROK side.

The first inter-Korean summit was held in Pyongyang in June 2000. Then ROK president Kim Dae-jung and then DPRK leader Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader, signed the June 15 Joint Declaration after the summit.

For the high-level talks, the five-member ROK delegation was headed by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.

Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, led the DPRK delegation.