DPRK offers to hold joint event with ROK to celebrate 1st ever inter-Korean summit

SEOUL -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Friday offered to hold a joint event with the Republic of Korea (ROK) to celebrate the first ever inter-Korean summit which was held some 18 years ago, according to multiple local media reports.

High-level officials from the DPRK and the ROK met at the border village of Panmunjom to discuss inter-Korean affairs.

The senior-level talks came after ROK president Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un held their surprise second summit on May 26 in Panmunjom.

The first inter-Korean summit was held in June 2000 in Pyongyang. After the summit, the June 15 Joint Declaration was signed by then ROK President Kim Dae-jung and then DPRK leader Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader Kim Jong-un.

During the ongoing high-level dialogue, the DPRK proposed holding a joint celebration event for the June 15 Joint Declaration in the ROK, involving government officials, civilians, political parties, legislators and civic groups.

The ROK offered to the DPRK establishing a joint liaison office of the two Koreas at the DPRK's border town of Kaesong as the first project to implement the Panmunjom Declaration, which Moon and Kim signed during their first summit on April 27.

Seoul also proposed a systematic, phased cooperation in the forest field with the DPRK and the linking of railways on the eastern and western corridors of the two Koreas.

The ROK also expressed the need to hold a general-level military dialogue, a Red Cross talks for the reunion of families separated after the 1950-1953 Korean War and talks about sports cooperation.