During the evening of Tuesday 9 January, the EU High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Federica Mogherini, hailed the meeting earlier that day between envoys from North Korea and South Korea.
“The high-level talks held today between the Republic of Korea and the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) are an encouraging signal, representing a positive step towards the improvement of inter-Korean relations”, Mogherini states in a press release. There had been no dialogue between North and South Korea since December 2015.
Mogherini welcomed the joint announcement on the attendance of a DPRK delegation at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, in South Korea, from 9 to 25 February. Pyongyang had boycotted the 1988 games held in Seoul. North Korea’s participation is tacit agreement that the country will avoid all provocation for the duration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Seoul has also requested that, in parallel to the games, a meeting be organised for families separated by the 1950-53 war.
In addition, the High Representative commended the holding of “military talks between the two sides, which can be conducive to fostering trust and de-escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula”.
Mogherini went on to stress the hope that “today’s talks and the envisaged further exchanges between the Republic of Korea and the DPRK will be a building block for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula”. She also hoped that discussions would “prepare the ground for the DPRK to engage in a broader, credible and meaningful dialogue, aimed at pursuing the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the peninsula”. The European Union “will continue to work towards this goal”, Mogherini said, while, in coming weeks, Europeans may adopt new restrictive measures in connection with North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic programmes. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)