Seoul, August 25: South Korea says it got an apology. North Korea says its archrival learned a “serious lesson.” That’s how compromises are engineered on a peninsula that has technically been at war for more than 60 years.
Seoul halted anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts over loudspeakers on the border Tuesday, hours after North Korea expressed “regret” over two South Korean soldiers maimed by recent land mine blasts. The North’s carefully worded yet vague statement, produced after more than 40 hours of talks between the countries, helped bring the rivals back from threats that seemed set to spin out of control last week.
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The Koreas also struck an important humanitarian agreement by promising to begin talks in September to plan emotional reunions of families separated by the Korean War. The reunions could take place as early as October, considering the time needed to match relatives and agree on a venue, said an official from Seoul’s unification ministry who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules.
It’s unclear how long the good mood will continue: The Koreas have a history of failing to follow through on their promises and allowing simmering animosity to interrupt diplomacy. But in the short term at least, the deal was a relief, easing prospects of fighting between two countries that had seemed equally unwilling to give ground to the other.
AP
