Moon’s top security aide holds talks with N. Korean delegates in Seoul
SEOUL, (MILLAT ONLINE):South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s top security aide held talks Monday with high-level North Korean delegates to the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, Seoul’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.
Chung Eui-yong, chief of the National Security Office, met the North Korean delegates for lunch at a Seoul hotel, according to the office.
“The two sides noted the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games have provided a meaningful opportunity to realize the Olympic spirit of peace and unity, as well as for peace on the Korean Peninsula and the restoration of the South-North Korean relationship, and agreed to continue working together even after the end of the Olympics to enable the establishment of lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, sustainable development of the South-North relationship and cooperation with the international community,” Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement.
The meeting came one day after Moon met Kim Yong-chol, the chief of the eight-member North Korean delegation, who told Moon that his country was willing to hold talks with the United States.
Inter-Korean dialogue was resumed last month to discuss the North’s participation in the Feb. 9-25 Winter Olympic Games. South-North talks were last held in December 2015.
Monday’s meeting between Chung and the North Korean officials also involved Seoul’s chief negotiator in six-way talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear ambition, Lee Do-hoon, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
The six-party denuclearization talks have been stalled for nearly a decade. North Korea staged its sixth and most powerful nuclear test so far in September 2017. The North Korean delegation is set to return home Tuesday.