Meeting between North and South while evacuation of border region In South Korea ongoing

After border regions in South Korea had been evacuated in preparation of a possible war with the North, South Korea and North Korea agreed to meet at 6 pm KST, an hour after the North’s deadline for the removal of Southern propaganda broadcasts.

“The South and the North agreed on contact today at 6 p.m. at Panmunjom, the House of Peace, regarding the ongoing inter-Korean situation,” said Kim Kyu-hyun from the South Korean Office of National Defense.

Panmunjom, located in Gyeonggi Province, is an abandoned village on the de facto border between North and South Korea, where the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that paused the Korean War was signed.

“North Korea yesterday at 4 p.m. proposed talks between (Chief of the South Korean National Security Office) Kim Kwan-jin and (Director of the United Front of the Workers’ Party of Korea) Kim Yang Gon, via a letter written by Kim Yang Gon. Then South Korea on the same day sent a revised suggestion to the North asking for the attendance of (Korean People’s Army Vice Marshal) Hwang Pyong So instead of Kim Yang Gon.”

Kim Kyu-hyun indicated that the message had been favorably received.

“Regarding our revised proposal, North Korea today at 9:30 a.m. stated Kim Yang Gon and Hwang Pyong So will attend, and asked for Kim Kwan-jin and (Blue House Secretary for Unification Issues) Hong Yong-pyo,” he said. “We accepted the position of the North, and suggested talks at 6 p.m. at the House of Peace at Panmunjom, and the North accepted it.”

The North had originally stated that the South had until 5 p.m. its time (5:30 KST) to remove its loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North messages or conflict would result. South Korean intelligence had indicated that the North was preparing for short-to-medium-range missile launches.