Korean Peninsula remains in tight situation

BEIJING - As the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are still conducting high-level contact in the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone at the borders, situation remains tight in the peninsula.

The two countries have just ended the nearly 10 hours of difficult negotiation starting Saturday afternoon and will resume the talks on Sunday afternoon.

During the first round of marathon talks, both sides comprehensively discussed ways of resolving the recent situations and developing the inter-Korean relations, ROK's presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said.

Top military aides to the leaders of the two Koreas met in Panmunjom, accompanied by high-ranking officials in charge of inter-Korean relations respectively.

Attendants at the closed-door meeting were Kim Kwan-jin, chief security advisor to South Korean President Park Geun-hye, and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo on the South Korean side.

The DPRK side was represented by Hwang Pyong So, top military aide to top leader Kim Jong Un and director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, and the United Front Department director Kim Yang Gon.

Kim and Hwang started the meeting with a smiling face and handshake, according to TV footage aired by South Korean broadcasters. They met in October last year when Hwang visited Incheon, South Korea's western port city, to attend the closing ceremony of the Asian Games hosted by South Korea.

The DPRK's KCNA news agency reported the start of the high-level contact, referring to South Korea as its official name "the Republic of Korea" in a very rare move that raised hopes for an end to tensions caused by landmine blasts and the exchange of artillery fires across border.

Pyongyang usually called the ROK "puppet state."