N. Korea's media emphasizes summit spirit following disagreement in military talks

SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's media on Monday called for South Korea to respect the spirit of the agreement the two Koreas' leaders reached in their April summit as they hold follow-up meetings to discuss cooperation in each sector.

In the so-called Panmunjom Declaration adopted after the April 27 summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to stop all hostile acts against each other and increase exchanges and cooperation in various areas.

Subsequent meetings have been held to exchange views on detailed steps for cooperation in diverse sectors, including Thursday's talks to discuss easing tensions between the two Koreas.

"Meetings for each sector between the two Koreas are important in terms of the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration," said Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website targeting South Koreans.

"The meetings for military, economy, culture and other sectors should play their own roles," it said, adding that it is of paramount importance to uphold the spirit and purpose of the summit agreement supporting reunification, peace and prosperity of the two Koreas.

The North's external propaganda outlet, Meari, joined the call for Seoul to stick to the spirit of the summit agreement and refrain from any attempts that could hamper implementation.

The North Korean media's ramped-up emphasis on the spirit of the summit agreement came amid concerns that there might be disagreements in their recent flurry of inter-Korean talks.

On Thursday, the two Koreas held their first general-grade talks in about 10 years, in which they agreed to fully recover military communications lines but failed to iron out differences on installing a hotline between top military officials or on holding a defense ministers' meeting.

In his closing comments, North Korea's chief delegate, Lieut. Gen. An Ik-san, expressed his displeasure with the failure, saying, "Let's not have talks like this again."

The two Koreas are currently holding talks on sports cooperation to discuss fielding joint teams for the upcoming Asian Games. A Red Cross meeting will also take place on Friday on holding a reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War and discuss other humanitarian issues.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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