DPRK declares success of high-level meeting with South Korea at Panmunjom

PYONGYANG, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Tuesday night declared as a success the high-level meeting with South Korea held at the truce village of Panmunjom on the same day.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that with tremendous expectations and caring from all the Koreans and a lot of members of international community, the two sides of the Korean Peninsula held sincere consultations on issues of principles, including ensuring the success of the 23rd Winter Olympics and improvement of inter-Korean relations.

KCNA quoted the communique issued by the meeting as saying that the north and south sides of the peninsula have decided to pro-actively carry out cooperation to ensure the successful holding of the Pyeongchang Olympics, using this opportunity to increase national prestige.

"For this reason, the DPRK side has decided to send a high level delegation and those of its National Olympics Committee, athletes, cheerers, artists, other visitors, Taekwon-do demonstrators team and journalists. The south side will provide necessary help to facilitate their visit," KCNA quoted the communique as saying.

The KCNA also quoted the communique as saying that the two sides will jointly make efforts to reduce military tension between the two sides, create a peaceful environment in the Korean Peninsula and seek national reconciliation and unity.

"The north and south sides agree that they should reduce the current military tension. They have decided to hold talks between their respective military authorities to solve this problem," according to KCNA.

"Moreover, the two sides will reinforce bilateral contacts, visits, exchanges and cooperation in a multiple of fields," it said.

The DPRK and South Korea have also decided to stick to all the documents adopted in the past on inter-Korean issues, and agree that all inter-Korean issues must be solved by the two sides only, as they are the sole concerning parties of these issues, through dialogue and consultations, according to the KCNA report.

Pyongyang and Seoul held their first high-level meeting on Tuesday in two years. Enditem