Two Koreas begin talks on Winter Olympics

The two Koreas on Monday began working-level talks on sending North Korean artistes to the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, after both parties reached an agreement last week at a historic meeting, Seoul's Ministry of Unification told Efe news.

The meeting started around 10.11 a.m. South Korean time (1.11 GMT) in the "Tongil Gak" building (the Unification Pavilion), on the northern fringe of the militarised border between the two countries, which have remained technically at war for more than half a century.

The talks follow last week's historic meeting, in which North Korea's participation in the Winter Olympic Games, which start in February in the South Korean county of PyeongChang, was agreed on and in which both sides opted to convene military meetings to ease tension on the peninsula.

Led by senior officials of the Ministries of Culture of both countries, the delegations will decide on details of the group of North Korean artistes, such as the number of members, how to travel or the performances they will give in PyeongChang.

The South Korean delegation is led by Lee Woo-sung, the head of the culture and arts policy office at the Culture Ministry, while that of the North, also composed of four members, is headed by Kwon Hyok-bong, director of the arts and performance bureau at its Culture Ministry.

Although the meeting last week culminated with rapprochement, Pyongyang has not yet given a response on its athletes' participation in the Winter Olympics or to Seoul's request that both countries parade under a unified flag as in other editions of the Olympic Games.

On the other hand, the North Korean news agency KCNA criticised, in an article published on Sunday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in's statement made last week, in which he praised the sanctions policy of his US counterpart, Donald Trump, considering that he had helped the two Koreas meet.

In the article, the regime even threatens in a veiled way not to attend the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, underlining that "train and bus carrying our delegation to the Olympics are still in Pyongyang".

North Korea's participation in PyeongChang could contribute to easing tension on the Korean peninsula, after the year 2017 was marked by the North's persistent weapons tests and Trump's belligerent verbal responses to the regime.

--IANS

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