남북 정상, 9월 평양서 올해 세번째 정상회담 개최
Our starting point is once again, the latest high-level inter-Korean talks.
It's agreed the next summit will take place in the North's capital in September.
However, they were unable to set a specific date, and the regime even warned that obstacles in improving relations must be removed.
Oh Jung-hee has our top story.
The next and third inter-Korean summit of this year will be held in September,... though an exact date is not yet set.
Meeting at the border village of Panmunjom on Monday, high-level delegations from Seoul and Pyongyang agreed -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in will be making his way up to the North Korean capital for the summit in September.
"We're holding the summit in Pyongyang, so North Korea's circumstances need to be considered. We agreed the summit needs to take place as soon as possible, but considering North Korea's schedule, we've initially decided to hold it in September and set the date through discussions. Realistically, it can't happen in August."
September is a busy month -- the North Korean regime celebrates the 70th anniversary of its establishment on September 9th.
Also, the UN General Assembly kicks off in New York in the latter half of the month.
It's not clear whether the inter-Korean summit will come before, in between, or after these two events... but the nation's presidential office has ruled out early September... because it could be hard for the regime to prepare for both its anniversary and the summit.
But there seems to be another reason they couldn't agree on a specific date.
Despite a seemingly warm and friendly atmosphere,... North Korea had a sharp warning for South Korea.
"It's very important that we quickly get rid of obstacles that hinder the improvement of inter-Korean relations. That will be crucial to developing our ties and carrying things out according to schedule. If these issues aren't resolved, then some unexpected problems could occur and our plans could face difficulties."
Speculation is that Pyongyang would have brought up the issue of sanctions during the meeting and urged Seoul to get more involved in alleviating them... and chose not to set a date to put pressure on Seoul.
"Overall, the two Koreas agreed that they've been quite successful in implementing the April summit agreement, citing progress in cooperation on railway and road connections, forestation, opening up a joint liason office and holding family reunions.
But Monday's talks were far short of putting an official seal on the summit,... so in terms of results, it's still a bit vague.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
