Joint Security Area a likely option for US-North Korea talks, Seoul says

The South Korean government offered up another idea for where the U.S. and North Korea could hold talks this spring.

“Switzerland, Sweden, or Jeju Island (South Korea) have been gaining a lot of attention, but we also see the joint security area as a serious option,” an official in South Korea’s presidential office told reporters Sunday.

The joint security area, also known as Panmunjom, is where leaders from the two Koreas agreed to hold summit talks near the end of April. The area is where the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed to suspend the Korean War in 1953 and it symbolizes division of the Korean peninsula.

The official also told reporters the South Korean government will give suggestions on the agenda for the talks, according to Yonhap news.

“We have a precious chance that must not be lost, not just for this government but also for the nation of the Republic of Korea,” Moon Jae In, South Korea's president, said recently.

“What we are trying to achieve in this short two months is a passage of transition that the world has not managed to realize until now. Therefore, it is hard to be optimistic about the results and we must be cautious in the process,” he said.