{"id":56272,"date":"2018-01-08T06:50:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T06:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=56272"},"modified":"2018-01-08T06:50:23","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T06:50:23","slug":"north-korea-assigns-top-military-man-to-tense-talks-with-seoul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/north-korea-assigns-top-military-man-to-tense-talks-with-seoul.html","title":{"rendered":"North Korea assigns top military man to tense talks with Seoul"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Korea assigns top military man to tense talks with Seoul<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

KIM Jong-un has revealed he is sending top military man Ri Son-gwon to head up talks with South Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n

The regime’s key military negotiator and chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country of the DPRK will lead the five member delegation in talks this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

The talks will take place on Tuesday at the border truce village of Panmunjom.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last time the two Koreas engaged in official talks was in December 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

They will discuss Pyongyang’s possible participation in the Feb. 9-25 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Saturday, Seoul proposed sending a five-member delegation led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, and in response the North announced it would send Ri to lead their delegation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ri has lead the North in various cross-border military talks since 2006 and has a lot of experience in inter-Korean talks.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is also considered the right-hand man of Kim Young-chol, the vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party and chief of the United Front Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim is known to have orchestrated torpedo attack in 2010 on the South Korean corvette Cheonan that killed 46 sailors.<\/span><\/p>\n

The talks have raised hopes of a thaw in tensions on the Korean Peninsula amid escalating tensions over Pyongyang\u2019s missile testing.<\/span><\/p>\n

However there are concerns the North could use the Olympics to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul, and it will use the sporting event to bargain against international sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert A Manning resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council exclusively told Express.co.uk: \u201c[Kim] went well beyond that in what appears at least a tactical shift, explicitly calling for talks which suggest at a minimum reopening a North-South dialogue channel and most likely participating in the ROK Winter Olympics.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor Kim, it appears to be returning to the North Korean playbook to try and drive a wedge between the US and ROK when there is a leftist government in Seoul.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added the comments may be an indication international sanctions against the country are \u201cstarting to bite\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adding: \u201cIn any case, North Korean participation in the Winter Olympics in itself is not a bad thing. \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump on Thursday called the proposed inter-Korean talks a \u201cgood thing,\u201d and he and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in announced that annual large-scale military drills would now take place after the Olympics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump took credit for any dialogue that takes place, tweeting: \u201cDoes anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn\u2019t firm, strong and willing to commit our total \u2018might\u2019 against the North.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/news\/world\/901344\/kim-jong-un-north-korea-south-korea-talks-world-war-3<\/span><\/p>\n

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