North, South Korea hold rare talks

North Korean and South Korean officials met in a demilitarized village on the border Thursday, to hold talks aimed at initiating sustainable communication between the two countries, according to reports.

A memo on the briefing provided by Shins’ office cited the NIS as saying it has intelligence that Choe was sent to the farm for reeducation in early November.

But experts say his disappearance may just be temporary – Choe has been purged and re-instated at least once before.

Considering that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly executed some 70 government and military officials since coming into power back in 2011, his latest move comes off as merciful.

Choe was a rising star after Kim inherited power upon the death of his dictator father Kim Jong Il.

The USA restricts such activities because the same technologies could be used to produce nuclear weapons and fears that supporting South Korea’s enrichment ambitions might send the wrong signal to North Korea, which is developing its own nuclear weapons program.

South Korea and the United States on Wednesday formally ratified a new nuclear cooperation agreement that stops short of granting Seoul the permission it had sought to start reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.

In the last installment commemorating the late president, Kim In-kyung tells us more about his faith in parliamentarian politics. In September he attended a military parade in Beijing marking the end of World War II on behalf of Kim.

But Choe’s name was omitted from an official list of 170 names published on Nov 9 for the state funeral of Marshal Ri Ul-Sol, who died of lung cancer.

The drill utilized K-9 self-propelled artillery launchers despite North Korea’s warning on Sunday that it would respond “mercilessly” should the South Korean live-fire drill push through near the tense border.

North Koreans who leave the country without permission face certain and harsh punishment upon repatriation and therefore should be considered as refugees sur place – people who become refugees as a result of fleeing their country or due to circumstances arising after their flight.