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Gyeonggi Province after the end of high-level meetings with North Korea

The high-level inter-Korean negotiations that concluded on Aug. 25 set a record for length at an unprecedented 43 hours since beginning on Aug. 22. While the Blue House remained on all-night emergency standby for three straight days, the overall mood in response to the dramatic last-minute deal was one of jubilation.

Negotiations between North and South Korea have dragged on in the past, but the latest ones mark a first in their format of four straight days without rest. The unusual length is drawing attention from many to the 43 hours of high-level negotiations at Panmunjeom’s Peace House.

According to accounts from administration sources on Aug. 24, the Peace House, located within the southern area of Panmunjeom, has no separate areas for lodging. It consists of a VIP room and press area on the first floor, a conference room on the second, and a banquet hall on the third. The negotiations themselves were conducted on the second floor.

While a rest area is located next to the conference room, it is not fitted for lying down to rest, forcing delegates in the talks to rest while seated in chairs, sources reported.

Areas for sleeping are located on the North Korean side in the Unification Pavilion, a one-story structure with two basement levels, and appear to have been used periodically by the North Korean participants.

But the overall environment was one ill-suited to marathon talks by delegates who were all - apart from 51-year-old South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo - of relatively advanced age, including Workers’ Party secretary for South Korea affairs Kim Yang-gon, 73, and Blue House National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin and North Korean military politburo chief Hwang Pyong-so, both 66.

Indeed, there were concerns about the physical health of the delegates, who were forced to conduct intense all-night negotiating over several days. Delegates were reportedly unable to shower, resorting to the use of bathroom facilities for light shaving and face-washing.

The Peace House also has no separate dining facilities, leaving delegates to rely on lunchboxes to eat, sources said. The third-floor banquet hall was reportedly not used by delegates. In the past, the location has been used for joint meals between the two sides when the negotiation mood has been particularly positive.

The Blue House maintained conditions of all-night emergency standby while it observed the progress of negotiations until their conclusion at 2 am on Aug. 25, the day of the announcement.

Key advisers, including Chief of Staff Lee Byung-kee, stayed up all night from the opening of talks on Aug. 22 through the following two days while monitoring their progress from reports over the Panmunjeom hotline and discussing countermeasures, sources said. Some staffers reportedly napped on their office sofas while awaiting information on standby.

By Choi Hye-jung, staff reporter

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