EXCLUSIVE North, South Korea in talks over summit, reopening liaison office

SEOUL, Jul 28 (Reuters) – North and South Korea are in talks to reopen a joint liaison office that Pyongyang demolished last year and to hold a summit as part of efforts to restore relations, three South Korean government sources said with knowledge the matter.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un have been looking for ways to improve strained relations by exchanging multiple letters since April, the sources said on condition of anonymity due to diplomatic sensitivity.

The talks signal an improvement in relations, which deteriorated over the past year after three summit meetings of heads of state or government in 2018 promised peace and reconciliation.

Inter-Korean talks could also help resume stalled Pyongyang-Washington negotiations aimed at dismantling the north’s nuclear and missile programs in exchange for lifting sanctions.

The issue is crucial for Moon, who has faced declining support in his senior year in office. Moon used his legacy to improve relations with North Korea, helping organize historic meetings between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019.

The two Koreas, technically still at war after their 1950/53 conflict ended in a ceasefire, on Tuesday reconnected the hotlines that the north split last June.

Both sides are discussing rebuilding their joint liaison office in the ceasefire village of Panmunjom on the border, two sources said. Pyongyang spectacularly destroyed the previous office in its border town Kaesong in 2020.

They are also aiming for a summit between Moon and Kim, but no timeframe or other details have been given due to the coronavirus pandemic, the sources said.

North Korea has not confirmed any COVID-19 cases, but it has closed borders and imposed strict prevention measures as it views the pandemic as a matter of national survival.

“Talks are still going on and COVID-19 should be the biggest factor,” a source said. “A face-to-face meeting is best, but hopefully the situation will improve.”

Moon’s office referred to a briefing from his press secretary Park Soo-hyun on Tuesday, who said the issue of restoring the liaison office needed to be discussed and that the leaders had not yet put forward any plans for a summit.

A second source said a virtual summit could be an option pending North Korea refuses to meet in person over COVID-19.

“If we can do that, and the North has that ability, it would make a huge difference and open up so many opportunities, something to resume talks with the United States.”

North Korea, which has not held meetings with foreigners since the pandemic began, is restricting outside media access and its mission to the United Nations has not been available for comment.

‘OPEN’ LETTERS

Moon had called for a revival of the hotlines and offered a video summit meeting with Kim, but Pyongyang had previously publicly responded with scathing criticism, saying it refused to speak to Seoul.

The first source said Moon and Kim exchanged “open” letters more than ten times, opening a channel of communication between Seoul’s intelligence agencies and Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong.

Despite the ups and downs in the deliberations, both sides agreed at the weekend to reactivate hotlines as a first step.

Kim’s move reflected his willingness to respond to U.S. offers for talks as President Joe Biden’s administration pledged a practical approach, including the appointment of an envoy on North Korean human rights issues, the source said.

“There were some visible elements, including taking a phased approach to action in place of a major deal and appointing a nuclear negotiator instead of a human rights officer,” the source said. “After all, Washington has revealed its policies and the North cannot just sit idly by, so inter-Korean relations were chosen as the starting point.”

The U.S. embassy in Seoul declined to comment and referred requests to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in June that the Biden administration was determined to appoint a North Korean human rights officer but did not provide a timetable.

Washington supports the inter-Korean engagement and diplomacy is essential to achieve full denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean peninsula, a spokesman said Tuesday as he welcomed the opening of the hotlines.

A third source said the two Koreas only announced the reopening of the hotline because little progress had been made on other issues, including how the North would apologize for blowing up the liaison office.

Hit by last year’s pandemic and typhoons, North Korea faces the worst economic crisis since a famine in the 1990s that killed up to 3 million people.

However, few deaths from starvation have been reported, said the first source, backed by Chinese aid and the release of military and emergency reserves.

North Korea is expected to resume trade with China, which includes freight train services, as early as August after plans for it were abandoned in April amid concerns about more contagious COVID-19 variants, the source said.

Beijing’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment and calls to the Chinese embassy in Seoul went unanswered.

Coverage by Hyonhee Shin; Additional coverage from David Brunnstrom in Washington and Tony Munroe in Beijing; Editing by Jack Kim and Lincoln Feast

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.