On Friday 5 January, the EU welcomed the organisation by South Korea of talks between North and South Korea on Tuesday 9 January in the village of Panmunjeom, where the Korean War (1950-1953) ceasefire was signed on the border between the two countries.
"We hope that the upcoming talks can be a building block for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and will, as the European Union, continue our efforts to work for this", an EU spokesperson said in a statement sent to EUROPE.
The spokesperson added that the EU "supports the leading role and call of the Republic of Korea to the DPRK to engage in a credible and meaningful dialogue, including through confidence building measures in order to enable steps aimed at pursuing the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. In this context, the DPRK's decision to accept an invitation from the Republic of Korea to hold talks next week, focusing on the possibility of the country’s participation in the Pyeongchang Olympic Games in a first step, is a welcome one." The Winter Olympics will be held in this South Korean city from 9 to 25 February.
According to the spokesperson, "this development follows a number of constructive and tension-defusing steps over the past week, including the reopening by the DPRK of a hotline with the Republic of Korea" that had been disconnected since 2006. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)