2013-06-10 18:03:41

North and South Korea to begin talks


(Vatican Radio) Details are emerging of high-level talks expected this week between North and South Korea. It's a major development because only two months ago the nations seemed on a war footing.

North Korean state television said the talks will examine reopening a joint industrial zone, restarting tourism to the North, and, the report said, reuniting Korean families -- along with other "humanitarian issues."

It said the North will send a "ministerial-level" delegation to South Korea for the meetings beginning Wednesday.

South Korea's government said it hopes the talks will build trust. They come only two months after North Korea was threatening to destroy South Korea, at a time when it was conducting military exercises with the United States.

Since then, North Korea is believed to have been under pressure from its ally China to abandon its military ambitions.

And if it now wants to repair relations, there's an anniversary ahead that could represent a deadline: next month marks 60 years since the armistice that ended the Korean War.

Listen to Alastair Wanklyn’s report: RealAudioMP3







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