NK REPORT

Only at MHI-NK News: North Korea reopens inter-Korean military hotline on west coast, By Dagyum Ji Communications channel to operate normally from Wednesday onwards, says MOU North Korea has restored inter-Korean military communication channels on the western coast of the peninsula, the South Korean vice unification minister announced on Tuesday. The announcement comes amid ongoing high-level government talks at the Peace House in the truce village of Panmunjom, which began at 1000 KST. ——————————————————— North Korea to send high-level delegation, athletes to PyeongChang, By Dagyum Ji and Oliver Hotham Seoul has also proposed reunion of families separated by the Korean War next month North Korea has proposed sending a delegation of officials, athletes, and cultural ambassadors to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next month, South Korea’s vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung said on Tuesday. The group will include performance artists, a taekwondo demonstration team, and “high-level” delegation from the North Korean government, among others. ———————————————————— North Korea hopes to achieve “precious results” in inter-Korean talks: Ri, By Dagyum Ji Chief delegate Ri Son Gwon suggests opening meetings to public as first talks in two years begin North Korea’s chief delegate to inter-Korean talks on Tuesday said he hopes dialogue will lead to the “first present of the new year and precious results” for people in both Koreas.Meetings began on Tuesday morning at the Peace House in Panmunjom as requested by Seoul last week, and were originally proposed by DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in his New Year speech. Tuesday saw Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country (CPRC), express his hopes for a good outcome for the talks, calling for the North and the South Korean authorities to conduct the meeting “with the serious position and sincere attitude.” The North Korean side agreed to hold the meeting behind closed doors, calling for the South to share the situation of the meeting to reporters “when necessary.”South Korea’s Ministry of Unification (MOU) said the general meeting finished at 1105 KST, while meetings between the chief delegates will be held from 1130 KST. Speaking to press at the Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue this morning, unification minister said the two would discuss the North Korean delegation’s participation in the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as “the issue of improving the inter-Korean relations.” Tuesday’s inter-Korean high-level government talks are the first in just over two years.Then-South Korean vice-unification minister Hwang Boo-gi held talks with his North Korean counterpart Jon Jong Su at the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) in December 2015. —————————————————- First North Korean oil tanker in months broadcasts location at Chinese port, By Leo Byrne Sanctioned oil tanker broadcasts its position for a few hours, before disappearing from tracking systems A sanctioned North Korean oil tanker broadcast its location at China’s Dalian port over the weekend, the first time a DPRK tanker has advertised its visit to a foreign port since June, the NK Pro Ship Tracker has shown. While several DPRK tankers transmitted their positions to tracking networks in the intervening months. Kim Jong Un’s public appearances in December: a renewed focus on ideological matters, By Fyodor Tertitskiy The final month of 2017 saw the leader challenge some established political norms The final month of 2017 was Kim Jong Un’s busiest of the year, seeing him visit two factories and attend two conferences – all while taking the time to visit North Korea’s sacred Mount Paektu and the mausoleum which houses his father and grandfather. The following is the NK Pro analysis of Kim Jong Un’s

Top MHI-NK Stories from around the web: North and South Korea agree to hold talks on easing military tensions (CNN) North Korea has agreed to send a delegation to next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea and to hold talks with Seoul to ease military tensions, in the most significant thaw in thaw in relations between the neighboring states in years ,Officials from the two nations met face to face on Tuesday for the first time in more than two years in the border town of Panmunjom, known as “truce village,” in the Korean peninsula’s heavily fortified demilitarized zone. The two countries also announced military talks “to ease the current military tensions” following a year of hostilities over North Korea’s missile and nuclear testing in the region and US-South Korea joint military drills over the peninsula.”South and North Korea have decided to make joint efforts for the unity of the people and reconciliation by establishing an environment for peace and easing military tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” the statement read. But it was not all harmony on Tuesday. North Korea’s chief negotiator, Ri Son Gwon, expressed strong discontent over South Korean claims to the media that denuclearization was discussed on Tuesday and could be part of military talks. He at the same time issued a threat to the US. “Speaking of the nuclear issue, all state-of art-strategic weapons, including atomic and hydrogen bombs, ICBMs, rockets, are entirely targeting the US. It is not targeting our own people. It is not targeting China and Russia as well,” Ri said. ICBMs refer to intercontinental ballistic missiles. N. Korea reopens disconnected military line (Yonhap News) North Korea reopened a disconnected military hotline to the South on Tuesday as the two Koreas held high-level talks to discuss the North’s participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and ways to improve their ties.  The North notified the South that it reconnected the hotline earlier in the day, according to a South Korean government official. The line will be operating normally starting Wednesday, the government said.North Korea severed a border communication channel and the military hotline in February 2016 in protest at Seoul’s shutdown of a joint industrial complex. The military hotline was previously used to notify the North of information regarding South Koreans moving in and out of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, just north of the inter-Korean border.The North restored the border hotline at the shared border village of Panmunjom last week after its leader Kim Jong-un extended a rare rapprochement to Seoul. Seoul raises family reunions, military talks in inter-Korean meeting (Korea Herald) The two Koreas on Tuesday held their first talks in more than two years, with the South hoping to lay the foundations for further dialogue, while the North focused on its participation in the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. South Korea’s delegation was led by Ri Son-gwon, the chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country. CPRC is North Korea’s state agency handling inter-Korean affairs. “I came to this meeting with a thought to hand a ‘precious result’ to our fellow people, who hold a great expectation,” Ri said at the start of the meeting. Ri also said the rare meeting was arranged upon “divine will,” on the back of “the hearts of the Korean people” and the “current situation.” In response to Ri’s remarks, Cho said the South Korean people want to steer inter-Korean relations toward reconciliation and peace. At the start of the talks, which involved a series of meetings, Seoul’s delegation requested military and Red Cross talks, as well as the resumption of the denuclearization talks, in addition to matters relating to the games. “(Seoul’s delegation) suggested holding family reunions in February to mark Seollal, and to hold Red Cross talks for this end,” South Korea’s Vice Minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung said. North Korea offers ‘gift’ as inter-Korean talks start in DMZ (Asia Times) With the long-running North Korean nuclear crisis simmering at its highest level in years, hopes are high that today’s inter-Korean talks will deliver a thaw in troubled relations.Senior officials from the two Koreas met, as scheduled, at 10 am in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom in the Demilitarized Zone to discuss North Korea’s belated participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics, to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9-25. Although North Korea only has two figure skaters qualified, their presence, together with a delegation and possibly a cheering squad, would have immense symbolic value. South Korean officials have said that they also hope to discuss reunions of divided families and the reduction of peninsula tensions during the talks. IOC extends North Korea’s Winter Olympics deadline (Korea Herald) The International Olympic Committee has “extended the deadline” for North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics, it announced on Monday.“We will be as flexible as we can be,” an IOC spokesman told AFP over North Korea sending a team to the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea. On Tuesday North and South Korea will hold their first official dialogue in more than two years to discuss the North’s participation at the 2018 Games in the truce village of Panmunjom.