South Korea proposes rare military talks

South Korea has proposed holding military talks with the North, after weeks of heightened tension following Pyongyang's long-range missile test, according to a report being carried by BBC Asia.
If they were to go ahead, they would be the first high-level talks since 2015.
A senior official, quoted by the BBC, said that talks should aim to stop "all hostile activities that raise military tension" at the fortified border between the Koreas.
South Korea's President, Moon Jae-in, has long signalled he wants closer engagement with the North, but North Korea has so far not responded to the South's proposal.
In a recent speech in Berlin, Mr. Moon said that dialogue with the North was more pressing than ever, and called for a peace treaty to be signed, saying that such dialogue was crucial for those who seek the end of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
However, the report continues, the North's frequent missile tests, including the most recent one of an intercontinental ballistic missile, are in consistent violation of UN resolutions and have alarmed its neighbours and the US.
South Korea's Vice Defence Minister, Suh Choo-suk, told a media briefing that talks could be held at Tongilgak, a North Korean building in the Panmunjom compound in the de-militarised zone between the two countries, which was used to host previous talks. He proposed that the talks be held on 21st July, and said, "We expect a positive response from the North."
South Korea's Unification Minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, also urged the restoration of communication hotlines between the two Koreas, cut last year after a North Korean nuclear test.
The BBC's Seoul correspondent said that the ultimate aim of these talks would be to end the military confrontation that has dominated relations between the two Koreas for decades, but it could begin with confidence-building measures such as ending the infamous loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border, she says.
The Red Cross and the government have also proposed a separate meeting, aimed at discussing how to hold reunions of families separated by the Korean War, which ended in 1953, but analysts say these could be highly fraught with Pyongyang still angry at the South's unwillingness to repatriate high-profile defectors, the report concludes.

Source: WAM