By Lee Kyoung Mi and Sohn JiAe

South and North Korea will hold a meeting of high-ranking officials at the Peace House in Panmunjeom on May 16 to talk about ways to carry out the Panmunjeom Declaration that was agreed upon at the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit.

The Ministry of Unification said that, “The South Korean government asked on May 8 that high-ranking officials from both sides meet on May 14 to discuss ways to implement the declaration. In response, Pyeongyang suggested today, May 15, that the talks should be held on May 16."

To the May 16 meeting, the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides since the Inter-Korean Summit, Seoul will send a delegation of five representatives, led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-Gyon.

Pyeongyang will also send five delegates, including Chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country Ri Son Gwon as the head, Vice Minister of Railways Kim Yun-hyok, Vice Minister of Physical Culture and Sports Won Kil U, Vice-chairman Park Yong-il of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, and Vice-chairman Park Myeong-cheol of the Committee for the Economic Cooperation of the DPRK. An entourage and some journalists, too, will accompany the North Korean delegation.

The unification ministry said that, “At the upcoming meeting, we will negotiate with the North concrete ways for a thorough implementation of the Panmunjeom Declaration, so as to lay the foundation for the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

km137426@korea.kr