International

Koreas agree to hold Olympics talks on Wednesday, Seoul says

Koreas agree to hold Olympics talks on Wednesday, Seoul says

January 15, 2018 | 02:26 PM
South Korea's chief delegate Lee Woo-Sung (front L), a senior official at Seoul's Culture Ministry, and his delegation crossing the border line to attend inter-Korea talks on the North's side of the border at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas.

* Talks planned for Wednesday amid easing tension* North Korea planning to send art troupe, athletes to South

North and South Korea agreed to hold working talks on Wednesday on the North sending athletes to next month's Winter Olympics in the South, Seoul's unification ministry said, as months-long tensions over the North's weapons programmes ease.The North asked for the meeting to be held at Peace House on the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone that divides the two Koreas, the ministry said in a statement.Officials from the two Koreas, technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty, met on Monday to discuss North Korea sending a performance art group to the Olympics to be held in the South Korean town of Pyeongchang.North Korea is pursuing its missile and nuclear programmes in defiance of UN Security Council and other sanctions and regularly threatens to destroy the United States and its two key Asian allies, South Korea and Japan.In bellicose exchanges in recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has derided the North Korean leader as a "maniac" and referred to him as "little rocket man". Kim has responded by calling the US president a "mentally deranged US dotard".But fears of war have eased after the first round of intra-Korean talks in more than two years last week, which Trump has welcomed.North Korea is planning to send a large delegation to the Olympics in addition to the athletes and performance group. South Korea is also seeking to form a united women's ice hockey team with the North, according to media reports.North and South Korea will also hold talks hosted by the International Olympics Committee, separate from the inter-Korean talks, on Saturday.  
January 15, 2018 | 02:26 PM