Establishing a joint economic community between North and South Korea and introducing the possibility of unrestricted cross-border travel will be "true liberation," South Korean President Moon Jae-in said.

"We must overcome such a division for our survival and development. Even though a political unification may be a long way from here, establishing peace between the South and the North and freely visiting each other, and forming a joint economic community is true liberation to us," Moon Jae-in was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

"This community will lead to an energy bloc and economic bloc in Northeast Asia by expanding our economic area to the northern continent and becoming the foundation of co-existence and prosperity in Northeast Asia. And this will mark the start to a multilateral security system in Northeast Asia," Moon Jae-in was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

Moon added that he hoped for the full denuclearization of North Korea. When the peace has been established, the countries may set up at least two special economic zones next to Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces, Moon said, according to the Yonhap.

Moon's special adviser on foreign affairs said Tuesday that the next summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may take place on September 12-13.

The official reportedly said the meeting was unlikely to take place earlier than September 9. On that date Pyongyang is celebrating the Day of the Foundation of the Republic.

At the same time, the presidential adviser said that the possibility of North and South Korea announcing the end of war at the General Assembly of the United Nations at the end of September "decreased," but it still existed.

Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un have met twice since the beginning of the year, in April and then in May.</s>SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea has stopped processing tourist visas for foreigners ahead of a high-profile anniversary next month, according to a China-based tour operator.

The measure follows reports that Pyongyang had suspended visits by Chinese tour groups as it prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the country is officially known.

Koryo Tours, a popular agency among Western tourists seeking to visit the North, said on its website it had been "informed on 13 August by our partners in Pyongyang that they had been instructed from above that all tourist visa applications currently underway are to be frozen".

It was not given a reason for the freeze, the company said, but was told it would apply until the anniversary on Sept 9.

"This suggests to us that... a higher power in the country is simply pressing pause on tourism until it is clear to them who is coming in such delegations and how many people," it added.

Pyongyang has previously lavishly celebrated the date with military parades or mass games involving thousands of people performing acrobatic choreography in unison, and is expected this time to hold its first mass games for five years.

Speculation has also mounted that the nuclear-armed North could be preparing to mount a parade - at which it normally shows off some of the weapons that have earned it multiple sets of UN Security Council sanctions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is speculated to be on the guest list, as officials in the North told South Korean journalists that he was invited to the event.

In his New Year speech in January, leader Kim Jong Un said North Korean people would "greet the 70th founding anniversary of their Republic as a great, auspicious event".

The occasion comes during a rare diplomatic detente on the Korean peninsula which has seen the South's president Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un meet twice, with a third summit planned for September.

The rapprochement also led to a landmark summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June, where the two leaders signed a vague agreement on denuclearisation.

Although Trump touted his summit with Kim as a historic breakthrough, the North has since criticised Washington for its "gangster-like" demands of complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament.

The US has urged the international community to maintain tough sanctions on the isolated regime.</s>The weekly further warned that "a smooth development of the inter-Korean relations cannot be expected if the South blindly follows foreign forces' policy of hostility towards the North"

North Korean state media on Tuesday called for the signing of a peace treaty, saying that mutual trust was necessary to advance with the denuclearization process of the Korean Peninsula.

The North Korean weekly Tongil Sinbo, one of the media used by the Pyongyang regime as a mouthpiece, said in its last edition, that one cannot expect further progress in denuclearization if the US does not take simultaneous measures, such as declaring the end of the war, reports Efe news. "There has been a breakthrough in the North's relations with the South and the US, but the termination of the war on the Korean Peninsula still remains an unresolved task," the weekly said.

"The US, as a responsible party in the declaration of the end of the war to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, should take practical measures to implement the agreement of the June 12 North-US summit in Singapore," it added. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump reaffirmed in their historic meeting the commitment towards complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and to reaching a definitive peace agreement, already signed by Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, at their earlier summit in late April.

The weekly further warned that "a smooth development of the inter-Korean relations cannot be expected if the South blindly follows foreign forces' policy of hostility towards the North". Echoing a similar argument, the Meari portal, another website that the Kim Jong-un regime uses as an unofficial mouthpiece, said that building mutual trust is fundamental to revitalising dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington, whose slow progress has been attributed to the unilateral demands and hostility of the US.

Also Read: North Korea Has Not Stopped Nuclear Programmes, Says United Nations Report

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever</s>SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korea agreed on Monday to hold a summit in the North in September, another step towards boosting cooperation between the old rivals, even as doubts grow over efforts to end the North’s nuclear weapons program.

Officials from both sides meeting in the truce village of Panmunjom, in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas, reached an agreement on a September summit between the countries’ leaders in the North’s capital of Pyongyang.

No date was announced for what will be the third meeting this year between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

They first met in April in Panmunjom, a remarkable thaw in ties after more than a year of rising tension and fears of war over the North’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

There they agreed that Moon would visit the North’s capital in the autumn, though the pair met again in May in an unannounced meeting at Panmunjom.

No details on an agenda for next month’s talks were announced, but the two Koreas have been discussing a range of issues, from a possible peace declaration to joint economic and infrastructure projects.

The progress between the two Koreas comes as North Korea and the United States are struggling to agree on how to bring about the North’s denuclearization, after Kim vowed to work toward that goal at a landmark summit in June in Singapore with U.S. President Donald Trump.

U.S. officials have told Reuters that North Korea had yet to agree to a timeline for eliminating its nuclear arsenal or to disclose its size, which U.S. estimates have put at between 30 and 60 warheads.

After Monday’s talks, Ri Son Gwon, the chairman of a North Korean committee aiming for the “peaceful reunification” of the peninsula, told his South Korean counterpart, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, it was important to clear “obstacles” preventing inter-Korean relations from moving forward.

“If the issues that were raised at the talks aren’t resolved, unexpected problems could emerge and the issues that are already on the schedule may face difficulties,” Ri said, without giving details.

South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, arrive for their meeting at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone, North Korea, August 13, 2018. Yonhap via REUTERS

PROBLEMS

One issue that has angered North Korea recently has been the case of a dozen North Korean restaurant workers who came to the South in 2016 via China.

The North says they were abducted by the South and should be returned, and has raised the possibility of the issue creating an obstacle to the reunion of some families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War, planned for next week.

Cho did not say if North Korea had raised the case of the restaurant workers on Monday, merely saying it had not brought up new issues.

“There were mentions that if there are problems to be resolved by both sides, on humanitarian issues or for the development of inter-Korean relations, we should do it,” the minister told reporters.

Cho said the two sides had exchanged views on the North’s denuclearization and on a peace mechanism to replace the armistice that ended fighting during the Korean War.

Moon and Kim agreed during their first summit to push for a declaration of an end to the Korean War together with the United States this year, but Washington has said it would only be possible after the North abandons its nuclear program.

Last month, the North’s state media criticized the South accusing it of only caring only about the views of the United States and failing to take practical steps to advance inter-Korean relations.

South Korea hopes to restart efforts on a cross-peninsula railway and a joint industrial park but has been cautious about major projects due to international sanctions chiefly engineered by Washington over the North’s nuclear and missile programs.

The North has urged the United States to end the sanctions, saying it had made goodwill gestures, including a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests, the dismantling of a nuclear site, and the return of the remains of some U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War.

“The North is asking the South to play a bridging role as they want the United States to speed up progress in declaring an end to the war officially,” said Seo Yu-seok, a researcher at the Institute of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Christopher Green, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, said the North could try to increase pressure on the South to deliver on economic promises made at the April summit, while widening the distance between Seoul and Washington.

Slideshow (8 Images)

Ri said the two sides had agreed on a date for the summit, but he declined to elaborate.

Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman of South Korea’s presidential office, said it would be difficult for the summit to happen before the Sept. 9 anniversary of North Korea’s founding, a major holiday there.</s>Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Chinese state media welcomed the inter-Korea decision to hold the next leaders' summit in Pyongyang in September.

State-owned Xinhua news agency said Monday the agreement will be a "new occasion" to continue the easing of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The summit, if it does take place as planned in September, will be the third meeting between Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

"Such an achievement between South and North [Korea] is worth welcoming," Xinhua stated.

"If the Pyongyang summit is realized, the trend of dialogue between the two Koreas will continue, and each side will show their will to resolve issues through dialogue," the Xinhua editorial read.

The article said the United States has had a significant impact on the "Korean Peninsula issue" and called on Washington to play a more active role in regional affairs.

The article also criticized the United States' North Korea policy.

The United States has remained steadfast on "maximum pressure" against North Korea even as Pyongyang has made efforts to "shut down" the Punggye-ri nuclear site, return U.S. remains from the 1950-53 Korean War, and strengthen exchanges between North and South, Xinhua stated.

Lu Chao, a North Korea expert at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told Chinese state tabloid Global Times the third summit could be a path toward "stimulating peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula," even as a "deadlock" prevails in U.S.-North Korea relations.

North Korea did not give a precise date for the third summit, to be held in September.</s>Aug. 14 (UPI) -- The United Nations Command in South Korea made direct working-level contact with North Korea at Panmunjom on Tuesday to return what has been identified as a North Korea body.

The body had drifted across the maritime border to South Korea in 2017, floating past the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong-do, Yonhap reported.

Yeongpyeong-do is the island that was bombarded by North Korean artillery shells in 2010, killing four South Koreans and injuring 19.

"The U.N. Command and the North Korean military made working-level contact in order to repatriate the body of a North Korean resident, found last year by the South Korean navy near Yeonpyeong," an unidentified South Korean military official told Yonhap.

The North Koreans responded to the communication and the U.N. Commmand transferred the body to the North on Tuesday, the South Korean official said.

Working-level contact was successfully made between the two sides for the first time since July 16, when U.S. and North Korean officials held working-level talks regarding the return of U.S. troop remains from the 1950-53 Korean War.

The North Korean response to the U.N. Command marks progress -- previous calls to discuss the body's repatriation was turned down, according to Yonhap.

There are about 28,000 U.S. troops on the peninsula.

Easing of tensions has not meant a reduction in the number of U.S. military personnel, many of them who have relocated from the U.S. Eighth Army headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Yonhap reported the defense authorization bill U.S. President Trump signed Monday includes restrictions against U.S. troop drawdown on the Korean Peninsula.

Trump said the $717 billion bill is the "most significant investment" in the U.S. military historically.</s>North Korea has stopped processing tourist visas for foreigners ahead of a high profile anniversary next month, according to a China-based tour operator.

[SEOUL] North Korea has stopped processing tourist visas for foreigners ahead of a high profile anniversary next month, according to a China-based tour operator.

The measure follows reports that Pyongyang had suspended visits by Chinese tour groups as it prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the country is officially known.

Koryo Tours, a popular agency among Western tourists seeking to visit the North, said on its website it had been "informed on Aug 13 by our partners in Pyongyang that they had been instructed from above that all tourist visa applications currently underway are to be frozen".

It was not given a reason for the freeze, the company said, but was told it would apply until the anniversary on Sept 9.

"This suggests to us that... a higher power in the country is simply pressing pause on tourism until it is clear to them who is coming in such delegations and how many people," it added.

Pyongyang has previously lavishly celebrated the date with military parades or mass games involving thousands of people performing acrobatic choreography in unison, and is expected this time to hold its first mass games for five years.

Speculation has also mounted that the nuclear-armed North could be preparing to mount a parade - at which it normally shows off some of the weapons that have earned it multiple sets of UN Security Council sanctions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is speculated to be on the guest list, as officials in the North told South Korean journalists that he was invited to the event.

In his New Year speech in January, leader Kim Jong Un said North Korean people would "greet the 70th founding anniversary of their Republic as a great, auspicious event".

The occasion comes during a rare diplomatic detente on the Korean peninsula which has seen the South's president Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un meet twice, with a third summit planned for September.

The rapprochement also led to a landmark summit between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June, where the two leaders signed a vague agreement on denuclearisation.

Although Mr Trump touted his summit with Mr Kim as a historic breakthrough, the North has since criticised Washington for its "gangster-like" demands of complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament.

The US has urged the international community to maintain tough sanctions on the isolated regime.</s>North and South Korea agreed Monday to hold a summit in Pyongyang in September, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported following high-level talks in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula.

The two sides “agreed at the meeting to hold a South-North summit in Pyongyang in September as planned”, Yonhap quoted a joint statement as saying, without giving a precise date.

A trip by the South’s President Moon Jae-in to the North’s capital would be the first such visit for more than a decade, as the diplomatic thaw on the peninsula builds.

At the historic first summit between Moon and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un in Panmunjom in April they agreed the South’s president would visit Pyongyang during the autumn.

Monday’s high-level talks, taking place on the northern side of the truce village in the Demilitarized Zone, were proposed by the North last week as it lashed out at Washington for pushing ahead with sanctions.

In his opening statement, the North’s chief delegate Ri Son Gwon said: “As the Pyongyang meeting of the leaders of the north and south is being discussed, I think talking about the issue will provide answers to the wishes of the people.”

Using a proverb describing a very intimate friend to refer to inter-Korean ties, Ri added: « We have opened an era where we are advancing hand in hand rather than standing in each other’s way. »

Despite the rapprochement, international sanctions against the North for its nuclear and missile programmes have kept economic cooperation between the two Koreas from taking off, while little progress has been made on the key issue of Pyongyang’s denuclearisation.

South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, leading the delegation from Seoul, said it was important that the two Koreas keep « the same mind ».

“Many issues will be raised (at the meeting), but I think any problem can be resolved with that mindset,” Cho added.

Cho addressed the possibility of Pyongyang raising the issue of sanctions to the South, and said: « We will explain our position to the North. »

The rapid rapprochement between the two neighbours that began this year paved the way for a landmark meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June.

Cross-border exchanges between the two Koreas have significantly increased since then, with the neighbours planning to hold reunions for war-separated families next week for the first time in three years.

But although Trump touted his summit with Kim as a historic breakthrough, the nuclear-armed North has since criticised Washington for its « gangster-like » demands of complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament.

Meanwhile the US has urged the international community to maintain tough sanctions on the isolated regime Seoul has caught three South Korean firms importing coal and iron from the North last year in violation of the measures.

Analysts say Moon could try to act as a mediator between the US and North Korea, having salvaged the Singapore meeting when Trump abruptly cancelled it.

If the third Moon-Kim summit takes place, the two are also expected to focus on hammering out a consensus on officially ending the 1950-53 Korean War, which concluded with an armistice instead of a peace treaty.

But Harry Harris, the US ambassador to South Korea, said Monday it was « too early » for such a declaration, Yonhap reported.</s>SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korean officials began high-level negotiations on Monday, with one South Korean newspaper report suggesting the two sides could be planning for a summit in Pyongyang later this month.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in April at a truce village along their mutual border and agreed to have another summit in autumn, this time in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang.

A South Korean delegation led by Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon began the latest round of talks with counterparts led by Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North’s reunification committee, at the truce village of Panmunjom.

“As the Pyongyang summit of the leaders of North and South Korea is being pursued, I believe that we can give concrete answers to the problems that the people hope and wish for,” Ri said during the talks, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.

Citing an unidentified South Korean official, the Kookmin Ilbo newspaper reported earlier on Monday that the next summit could be held as soon as late August.

The schedule had mostly been coordinated with North Korea and the summit would likely be held in Pyongyang, it said.

A spokesman for South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Sunday officials hoped such details would be decided at Monday’s talks.

“We hope that the timing, venue and the size of the delegation that will visit North Korea will be decided,” Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said, declining to comment on specifics.

North Korea’s Kim has a held a flurry of diplomatic summits with the leaders of South Korea, China, and the United States this year.

Moon and Kim also had a surprise meeting at the border in May, making Moon the only South Korean leader to have met a North Korean leader twice. A visit by Moon to Pyongyang would be the first to be held this year in North Korea’s capital.

The North has been heavily sanctioned over its pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles but Kim and Trump agreed at their landmark summit in Singapore in June to work toward the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has denounced U.S.-led efforts to maintain sanctions despite what Pyongyang says are goodwill gestures, including halting its weapons testing and returning the remains of U.S. troops killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

U.S. officials familiar with the talks, however, told Reuters that North Korea had yet to agree to a timeline for eliminating its nuclear arsenal or to disclose its size, which U.S. estimates have put at between 30 and 60 warheads.</s>North and South Korean officials are scheduled to hold high-level negotiations on Monday, with one South Korean newspaper report suggesting the two sides could be planning for a summit in Pyongyang later this month. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in April at a truce village along with their mutual border and agreed to have another summit in autumn, this time in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang.

Citing an unidentified South Korean official, the newspaper Kookmin Ilbo reported on Monday that summit could be held as soon as late August. The schedule had mostly been coordinated with North Korea and the summit would likely be held in Pyongyang, it said. A spokesman for South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Sunday officials hoped such details would be decided at Monday’s talks.

“We hope that the timing, venue and the size of the delegation that will visit North Korea will be decided,” South Korea’s presidential office Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said, declining to comment on specifics. North Korea’s Kim has a held a flurry of diplomatic summits with the leaders of South Korea, China, and the United States this year.

Moon and Kim also had a surprise meeting at the border in May, making Moon the only South Korean leader to have met a North Korean leader twice. A visit by Moon to Pyongyang would be the first to be held this year in North Korea’s capital. The North has been heavily sanctioned over its pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles but Kim and Trump agreed at their landmark summit in Singapore in June to work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has denounced U.S.-led efforts to maintain sanctions despite what Pyongyang says are goodwill gestures, including halting its weapons testing and returning the remains of U.S. troops killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

US officials familiar with the talks, however, told Reuters that North Korea had yet to agree to a timeline for eliminating its nuclear arsenal or to disclose its size, which U.S. estimates have put at between 30 and 60 warheads.

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North Korea and South Korea officials begin high-level negotiations, with reports suggesting that Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in could be planning for a summit in Pyongyang later this month.