(VOVworld) – The Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will hold the 2^nd high-level meeting on Friday in the demilitarized zone of Panmunjeom. This is part of efforts to clear deadlocks in their bilateral ties. Earlier, the two-Korea high-level talks ended on Tuesday with no progress due to both sides’ differences regarding the upcoming South Korea-US military exercise.

The talks are held at the Demilitarized area of Panmunjeong  Photo: internet

At the meetings, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea demanded a postponement of joint manoeuvres until after the inter-Korean family reunions scheduled to take place later this month. But the Republic of Korea rejected the request, saying that it was impossible to link humanitarian issues with military ones. Seoul also said that it considered the family reunion programs first steps towards improving relations and building trust between the two Koreas. Last week, Pyongyang and Seoul agreed to arrange reunions for Korean families separated since the 1950-53 Korean War at the Mount Kumgang resort.