North, South Korea agree to official talks

Google – AFP, Lim Chang-Won (AFP), 6 June 2013

A North Korean soldier at the truce village of Panmunjom, in the demilitarised

zone, on April 23, 2013 (AFP/File, Kim Jae-Hwan)

SEOUL — North and South Korea agreed in principle Thursday to hold their first official talks for years, signalling a possible breakthrough in cross-border ties after months of escalated military tensions.

A surprise offer from Pyongyang proposed discussions on a range of commercial and humanitarian issues, from reopening a joint industrial complex to resuming cross-border family reunions.

In an unusually quick reply, South Korea called for minister-level talks on June 12 in Seoul, and urged the North to reopen severed communications channels for working-level discussions from Friday.

The Kaesong complex was established inside North Korea in 2004

(AFP Graphic, al/js/gal)

"I hope... dialogue will provide a momentum for South and North Korea to improve relations based on mutual trust," South Korea's unification minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae said in a televised statement.

China, the North's sole major ally, reacted positively.

"China is happy and welcomes that (North and South Korea) agreed to resume their engagement and dialogue," said foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

Analysts also welcomed the development but some advised caution, saying the precise nature and agenda of the dialogue might create insurmountable sticking points.

"I think this is an attempt by the North to seize the initiative, but it's premature to say whether the offer is likely to lead to a sincere dialogue," said Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Official contacts between Seoul and Pyongyang have been essentially frozen since South Korea accused the North of torpedoing one of its warships in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives.

South Korean soldiers patrol along a

fence on the Demilitarized Zone dividing

the two Koreas on April 26, 2013 (AFP/

File, Jung Yeon-Je)

April and May this year saw tensions soar to worrying levels as the North, angered by joint South-US military drills and UN sanctions imposed after its nuclear test in February, threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes.

The situation has calmed in recent weeks, with both sides circling warily around the idea of opening some sort of dialogue.

The North's proposal, carried in a statement from the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), said the venue and date for talks "can be set to the convenience of the South side".

Initial subjects for discussion would be the Kaesong joint industrial zone, which was closed at the height of the recent tensions, and the resumption of cross-border tours to the North's Mount Kumgang resort, the CPRK said.

Humanitarian issues such as reuniting family members separated after the 1950-53 Korean War could also be discussed.

South Korean tanks move over a temporary

 bridge during a military drill in Hwacheon, 

on April 1, 2013 (AFP/File, Kim Jae-Hwan)

The CPRK said a positive response would see the North consider rolling back measures it took when relations went into a tailspin in April, including restoring a cross-border hotline.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye welcomed the North's gesture and said: "I hope this will serve as a momentum for South and North Korea to solve various pending issues... through dialogue and build trust."

South Korea had already offered working-level talks on Kaesong and Seoul is likely to be wary of agreeing to a much wider-ranging agenda.

While Park has spoken of the need for dialogue, she has made it clear -- with US backing -- that substantive talks would require the North to show commitment to abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.

Pyongyang has repeatedly insisted that its nuclear deterrent is not up for negotiation.

"There could be some trouble in setting the agenda, and it's natural to doubt North Korea's sincerity," said Paik Hak-Soon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think-tank in Seoul

"But this a typically strategic change of direction by the North, which puts the ball in the South's court and I think it presents a genuine opportunity," Paik said.

The Kaesong complex, established inside North Korea in 2004, was the most high-profile casualty of the recent tensions.

Born out of the "Sunshine Policy" of inter-Korean reconciliation initiated in the late 1990s by South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung, Kaesong was a crucial hard currency source for the impoverished North, through taxes and revenues and its cut of workers' wages.

Tourists pose for photos at the Mount

Kumgang international tourist zone in North

Korea, August 31, 2011 (AFP/File, Goh

Chai Hin)

Operations ground to a halt after the North pulled all its 53,000 workers out in early April. The South withdrew its managers and officials soon afterwards.

An association of South Korean businessmen who run factories in Kaesong welcomed the North's proposal and called for the quick opening of dialogue.

The Mount Kumgang resort, developed by the South's Hyundai Asan company, opened in 1998 as a symbol of reconciliation. It once earned the North tens of millions of dollars a year.

But Seoul suspended tours by its citizens after a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean housewife there in July 2008. In response the North scrapped a deal with Hyundai Asan and seized its properties there.

Hundreds of thousands of family members were separated by the Korean War, and the last temporary reunions took place in 2010.

Nearly 80,000 people in the South alone are on the waiting list for reunions should they resume.

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A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“….. Here is the prediction: China will turn North Korea loose soon. The alliance will dissolve, or become stale. There will be political upheaval in China. Not a coup and not a revolution. Within the inner circles of that which you call Chinese politics, there will be a re-evaluation of goals and monetary policy. Eventually, you will see a break with North Korea, allowing still another dictator to fall and unification to occur with the south. ….”

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"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa, Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)  

“…  I want you to watch some countries. I don't have a clock [this statement is Kryon telling us that there is no time frame on his side of the veil, only potentials]. I'll just tell you, it's imminent [in Spirit's timing, this could mean as soon as a decade]. I want you to watch some countries carefully for changes. You're going to be seeing changes that are obvious, and some that are not obvious [covert or assumptive]. But the obvious ones you will see sooner than not - Cuba, Korea [North], Iran, of course, and Venezuela. I want you to watch what happens when they start to realize that they don't have any more allies on Earth! Even their brothers who used to support them in their hatred of some are saying, "Well, perhaps not anymore. It doesn't seem to be supporting us anymore. "Watch the synchronicities that are occurring. The leaders who have either died or are going to in the next year or so will take with them the old ways. Watch what happens to those who take their place, and remember these meetings where I described these potentials to you. …”

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