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Minister of Public Administration and Safety Kim Bu-gyeom speaks with President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House on Jan. 2. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon is on the left. (Blue House Photo Pool)

Just one day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared his willingness to engage in inter-Korean dialogue during his New Year’s address, the South Korean government responded swiftly by proposing high-level talks with the North. If these talks are held, they will be the first intergovernmental dialogue between North and South Korea for more than two years, since vice minister-level talks in Dec. 2015, and the first such talks since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office.

“The government proposed holding high-level talks with North Korea at the House of Peace in Panmunjeom on Jan. 9. We expect that, if we sit down with the North, we’ll be able to have a candid discussion about the question of North Korea participating in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics along with other items of mutual interest in order to improve inter-Korean relations,” Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said during a press conference held on the afternoon of Jan. 2.

“If we are to discuss the question of holding inter-Korean talks, the inter-Korean communication channel at Panmunjeom needs to be quickly restored. We’re proposing that the Panmunjeom communication channel be used to work out the procedural details, including what the agenda of the talks will be and who will be on the delegations,” Cho said.

North Korea responded positively to Cho’s suggestion, announcing on a state radio address that it would reopen the channel as of 3:00 pm (3:30 South Korean time) on Jan. 3. The Panmunjeom communications channel had been closed for almost two years, following the Park Geun-hye administration’s decision to close down the Kaesong Industrial Complex in Feb. 2016 in response to a North Korean rocket launch earlier that month.

The South Korean proposal for high-level talks with the North did not specify the format or agenda of the talks, leaving open the possibility of North Korea offering a counterproposal. “We’re willing to engage in talks regardless of timing, location or format,” Cho said multiple times during the press conference.

While Cho noted that “the discussion will be primarily focused on the question of the North Korean delegation attending the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics,” he added that “since inter-Korean dialogue will be taking place for the first time in a while, it would be desirable to create an opportunity to discuss several matters concerning both sides.” This is being taken to mean that, if the talks occur, Seoul intends not only to discuss the question of North Korean athletes participating in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics but also to attempt to resume inter-Korean dialogue and fully restore inter-Korean relations.

“We should improve the frozen inter-Korean relations and glorify this meaningful year as an eventful one noteworthy in the history of the nation… Now it is not time for the North and the South to turn their backs on each other and merely express their respective standpoints; it is time that they sit face to face with a view to holding sincere discussions over the issue of improving inter-Korean relations by our nation itself and seek[ing] a way out for its settlement in a bold manner,” Kim Jong-un said during his New Year’s address on Jan. 1. This is giving rise to speculation that the talks could expand in scope if North and South Korea respond positively.

As a follow-up measure to the “New Berlin Declaration” made by Moon Jae-in during his speech at the Korber Foundation in Germany, Seoul proposed to North Korea on July 17 that the two sides hold military talks to halt hostile activities around the military demarcation line and Red Cross talks to organize reunions for families divided by the Korean War. While North Korea has not responded to these proposals, officials from South Korea’s Unification Ministry have taken every opportunity to remind the North that the proposal for talks remains valid.

The implication is that if North Korea joins these talks, they could address not only athletic matters – namely, North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics – but also matters concerning the military and the Red Cross. That also seems to be why the government proposed comprehensive “high-level talks.”

“For these talks to cover military, athletic and Red Cross issues, our delegation will have to be headed by the Unification Minister,” said former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun.

Experts predict that North Korea will make some kind of response to the proposal for dialogue. “North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un personally expressed his willingness for the North to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and to improve inter-Korean relations. Since he even said that talks could be held soon, the proposal for talks is likely to be accepted,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. If North Korea attends the meeting, it would be the first time for officials from the two sides to sit down together in two years and one month, since vice minister-level talks ended in Dec. 2015 without any results.

On the other hand, North Korea could also adopt a prudent stance. It could start out by making a counterproposal for athletic talks that are limited to the question of participating in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics without extending to other issues. Considering that Kim called for a reduction of military tensions in his New Year’s address, his next move may well depend on whether or not South Korea and the US delay their joint military exercises, a question that is currently under discussion. The deadline for North Korea applying to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is Jan. 29.

By Jung In-hwan and Noh Ji-won, staff reporters

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