SEOUL: South Korea on Monday offered to hold rare military talks with the North, aiming to ease tensions after Pyongyang tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile. The offer of talks, the first since South Korea elected dovish President Moon Jae-In, came as the Red Cross in Seoul proposed a separate meeting to discuss reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. The South’s defense ministry proposed a meeting to be held on Friday at the border truce village of Panmunjom, while the Red Cross offered to hold talks on August 1 at the same venue. If the government meeting goes ahead, it will mark the first official inter-Korea talks since December 2015. The Red Cross said it hoped for “a positive response” from its counterpart in the North, hoping to hold a family reunions in early October.

Source: Manila Times July 17, 2017 03:00 UTC