DPRK, the Republic of Korea on alert as talks resume in bid to end standoff
Top aides to the leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea resumed talks on August 23 after negotiating through the night in a bid to ease tensions involving an exchange of artillery fire that brought the peninsula to the brink of armed conflict.
The meeting at the Panmunjom truce village inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) began on August 22 evening, with both sides on military alert, shortly after DPRK's deadline for Seoul to halt anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts or face military action. It broke up before dawn on August 23.
The envoys, shown on TV exchanging handshakes and tight smiles at the start of their meeting, discussed ways to resolve tensions and improve ties, The RoK's presidential Blue House said in a brief statement.
"Both sides are under big pressure to get something out of this," said Jeon Young-sun, professor at the Institute of the Humanities for Unification at Konkuk University in Seoul, who said the length of the high-level meeting may be unprecedented.
The talks took place in the RoK's Peace House, just south of Panmunjom's often-photographed sky-blue huts, and the same venue where lower-level talks between the bitter rivals took place in February 2014, without ending in agreement.
The negotiations were interrupted with breaks for both sides to consult with their respective governments, and for snacks, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
"DPRK wants to stop broadcasts, while the RoK can't do it without achieving anything back," Jeon said.
DPRK and the RoK have remained technically in a state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, and inter-Korean relations have been in a deep freeze since the deadly 2010 sinking of a RoK warship. Pyongyang denied responsibility.
The current tensions began early this month when two RoK Korean soldiers were wounded by landmines along the border. The DPRK denies laying the mines.
The crisis escalated on August 20 when the DPRK fired four shells into the RoK, according to Seoul, which responded with a barrage of 29 artillery rounds. DPRK declared a "quasi-state of war" in front-line areas and made an ultimatum for Seoul to halt its broadcasts.
That deadline passed on August 22 without any reported incidents. The United Nations, the United States and the North's lone major ally, China, have all called for calm.