▲ Kim Hong-cheol, Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy, announces the government's stance regarding the situation in the DMZ at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on October 23.
North Korea has shown no notable response as of Saturday morning, a day after South Korea's Ministry of National Defense proposed holding inter-Korean military talks to resolve discrepancies regarding the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
As of this morning, a day after the proposal for military talks was made, North Korean state media, including the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and the Rodong Sinmun, have not reported on the matter.
There has also been no release of an official stance, including statements from senior officials such as Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Workers' Party of Korea, who had intensively issued messages targeting South Korea ten times over the past month.
State media instead reported on leader Kim Jong-un guiding the 3rd Conference of Company Commanders of the Korean People's Army (KPA) as their lead story on Saturday.
Kim delivered a speech at the 3rd Conference of Company Commanders held in Pyongyang on October 22 – 23, saying, "The basic spirit of the conference is to build the strongest military by fostering the strongest companies and to accelerate our style of military revolution," and adding, "When all companies across the entire military are prepared at their strongest, the war readiness of our armed forces will be perfected and the goal of building a powerful army in the new era will be achieved," according to state media.
Earlier on Friday afternoon, the defense ministry formally proposed to North Korea holding inter-Korean military authorities' talks in the name of Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Kim Hong-cheol to discuss mutually confirming the location of the MDL, restoring military communication lines, and preventing accidental clashes in border areas.
The ministry urged North Korea to respond, stating that three-party talks including the United Nations Command (UNC), which oversees compliance with the Armistice Agreement, could also be held if necessary.
This marks the second time under the current administration that South Korea has officially proposed talks to North Korea, following a proposal in November last year.
At that time, the defense ministry also proposed inter-Korean military talks under Kim's name to discuss establishing a baseline for the MDL, but North Korea did not respond.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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