* Family reunions, easing military tension may also be on table

SEOUL, Jan 9 (Reuters) - North and South Korea will hold their first formal talks for more than two years on Tuesday, brought together by sport to discuss how the North’s athletes can attend next month’s Winter Olympics in the South despite simmering fears of conflict. The first meeting of its kind between the nations in about two years was arranged after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made an abrupt push for improved ties with South Korea following a year of escalating tensions with the outside world over his expanding nuclear and missile programs. Critics say Kim may be trying to divide Seoul and Washington in a bid to weaken international pressure and sanctions on the North. Tuesday’s meeting began in an amicable atmosphere, with chief North Korean delegate Ri Son Gwon saying he hoped the talks would give “a New Year’s first gift — precious results to the Korean nation.” Ri’s South Korean counterpart, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, said he also hoped they would come up with a “good gift” for people in both Koreas. The CPRC is North Korea’s state agency handling inter-Korean affairs.“The South and the North agreed to collaborate in facilitating reconciliation and unity by easing military tension, and to establish a peaceful environment,” the two sides said in a joint press statement.“The South and the North agreed on the need to ease military tensions and to hold military talks to resolve the issue.”The statement went on to stress that the two Koreas will take the lead in resolving “all issues raised in inter-Korean relations.”Under the agreement, the North will send in addition to the athletes, an Olympic Committee delegation, cheering squad, cultural performance troupe, taekwondo demonstration group, delegation of observers and press.In addition, the two Koreas agreed to hold further high-level talks and engage in dialogue concerning other areas of inter-Korean relations.The matter of holding reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, however, was not mentioned in the statement.In its assessment of the talks, the Ministry of Unification echoed Cheong Wa Dae’s earlier assessment that the talks will pave the way for improving inter-Korean relations.The ministry also said the talks served to relay the Moon Jae-in administration’s North Korean policies and improve mutual understanding.The talks, however, did not end without friction between the two sides.According to Seoul officials, Ri expressed “strong discontent” at the South Korean delegation’s mention of denuclearization at the start of the talks.At the opening of the meeting at 10 a.m., the South Korean delegation suggested military talks as well as family reunions in February, and called on the North to reduce tensions on the peninsula and “resume dialogue to establish peace including denuclearization.”In the final meeting, Ri is also said to have expressed discontent at South Korea’s decision to announce the re-establishment of the West Sea military hotline, saying the line had been revived on Jan. 3.The two Koreas installed military hotlines on the east and west sides of the country in 2009. (AP-Yonhap)

North Korea on Tuesday confirmed its participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and agreed to hold military talks with South Korea.The agreement came in the first inter-Korean talks to be held in more than two years.South Korea’s delegation, led by Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon, and the North Korean delegation met at Panmunjeom at 10 a.m. North Korea is weak in winter sports and a pair of figure skaters, Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik, earlier became the only North Korean athletes to qualify for next month’s Pyeongchang Games before the North missed a confirmation deadline. But on Thursday, Trump called the new talks “a good thing” and said they had been prompted by his “firm, strong” stance, which has included harsher international sanctions and threats of military intervention if the North does not give up its weapons program. In this Sept. 20, 1986, file photo, an opening ceremony for the Asian Games is held at Olympic stadium in Seoul, South Korea. Related: North Korea warns U.S. of its nuclear force

Cho said South Korea also called for talks at an early date on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula to promote peace. South Korean negotiators floated organizing another round of reunifications for families separated during the Korean War -- which is technically still ongoing, as no formal peace treaty has been signed. U.S. President Donald Trump spent much of the past year deriding negotiations as useless and lobbing insults at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Ambassador Nikki Haley later said the U.S. administration isn’t changing its conditions regarding talks with North Korea, saying Kim first needs to stop weapons testing for a “significant amount of time.”

In his New Year’s Day address, Kim said he was willing to send a delegation to the Pyeongchang Games.
In the first inter-Korean talks in two years at the Panmunjeom-Paju "Truce Village" (DMZ), both parties agree on the need to ease tensions and hold military talks. North Korea also agrees to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.