North and South Korea agree to hold military talks to defuse border tensions

North Korea is to send a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games taking place in South Korea in February, officials from the South say. The breakthrough announcement came as the countries met for their first high-level talks in more than two years. The delegation will include athletes, officials and a group of cheerleaders. A military hotline between the nations, suspended for nearly two years, will be reinstated from Wednesday, the Souths officials said. Whats happened at the talks? They have continued all day and the developments have been conveyed by officials from the South: Vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung told journalists: The North side proposed dispatching a high-level delegation, National Olympic Committee delegation, athletes, supporters, art performers, observers, a taekwondo demonstration team and journalists to the Games The South proposed that athletes from both Koreas march together at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang as they did at the 2006 Winter Olympics The South pushed for the reunion of family members separated by the Korean War - a highly emotional issue for both countries - to take place during the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls in the middle the Games The South also proposed resuming negotiations over military issues and the Norths nuclear programme The South said it would consider temporarily lifting relevant sanctions, in co-ordination with the UN, to facilitate the Norths participation in the Olympics The Norths response to all of the Souths proposals is not yet known. The opening remarks of head of the North Korean delegation, Ri Son-gwon, were fairly neutral. He said he hoped the talks would bring a good gift for the new year and that the North had a serious and sincere stance. Where are the talks and how did they come about? They are being held in the Panmunjom peace village in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) at the border. There are five senior officials on each side. The leaders of both nations are said to be watching the talks via a CCTV feed. In his New Year address, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had said he was considering sending a team to the Olympics. South Koreas Olympics chief had said last year that the Norths athletes would be welcome. Following Mr Kims overture, the South then proposed high-level talks to discuss the Norths participation, but the North only agreed to the talks after the US and South Korea agreed to delay their joint military exercises until after the Olympics. The North sees the annual drills as a rehearsal for war. Some critics in the US see the Norths move as an attempt to divide the US-South Korea alliance. When were the last talks? Back in 2015. Relations then broke down after Seoul suspended a joint economic project at the Kaesong Industrial complex in North Korea following a rocket launch and nuclear test by the North. The incident led to North Korea ending all communication with Seoul, including cutting off the military hotline. How bad have things become? The Norths development of its nuclear programme has continued unabated and has created a huge diplomatic conflict with the US administration of President Donald Trump. Mr Trump and Kim Jong-un have conducted a personal feud, with the US leader dubbing Mr Kim Rocket Man and boasting that his nuclear button is much bigger. North Koreas regular missile tests have brought a tightening of UN and US sanctions. What might we expect at the Olympics? Pyeongchang, approximately 180km (110 miles) east of Seoul, will host both the Winter Olympics in February and the Winter Paralympics in March. There has been no official announcement on the make-up of the North Korean team. Only two North Korean athletes had qualified for the Games - figure skaters Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik - although even they missed the participation deadline and would need IOC clearance. There may be possible wild-card entries, perhaps in short-track speed skating and Nordic skiing, but this has not been confirmed. North Korea has participated in the Olympics before, but not in South Korea. It boycotted the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

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North and South Korea agree to hold military talks to defuse border tensions