The discussions, to be held at the Peace House on the South Korean side of Panmunjom, will initially focus on North Korea’s possible participation in next month’s Winter Olympics in the South Korean town of Pyeongchang. Pyongyang notified Seoul that it has accepted the offer of talks at Panmunjom via fax on Friday morning, according to the South Korean unification ministry. North Korea regards the joint military exercises as a rehearsal for invasion and has often cited them as an obstacle to any thawing of inter-Korean ties. Play Video 1:08 South Korea offers to hold talks with North – videoThat was followed by a South Korean offer of talks and the resumption on Wednesday of a cross-border telephone hotline that had not been used since early 2016. “This is not something where the Republic of Korea (South Korea) is going to go off freelancing or having lots of conversations with them.”

Source: The Guardian January 05, 2018 02:45 UTC