Inter-Korean talks underway for DPRK's dispatch of athletes to the ROK-hosted Winter Olympics

SEOUL - Working-level talks between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) were underway Wednesday at the truce village of Panmunjom to discuss the DPRK's dispatch of athletes to the ROK-hosted Winter Olympics, Seoul's unification ministry said.

The plenary session, which kicked off at about 10 am local time (0100 GMT) as scheduled, ended some 45 minutes later. The vice ministerial-level dialogue was underway at the Peace House, a building controlled by the ROK in Panmunjom which straddles the heavily guarded inter-Korean land border.

The three-member ROK delegation was led by Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, while the DPRK delegation was led by Jon Jong Su, vice chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

The two sides were discussing the DPRK's dispatch of its athletes to the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games slated to run from February to March in the ROK's eastern county of PyeongChang.

One of the main dialogue agenda was whether the two Koreas can march together during the opening ceremony and field a joint women's ice hockey team in next month's Winter Olympics.

Earlier this week, the ROK and the DPRK held another working-level dialogue in Panmunjom, at which the DPRK agreed to send a 140-member orchestra to the ROK during the Olympic period for concerts in the capital Seoul and Gangneung near the PyeongChang county.