File photo: South Korean President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their summit at the truce village of Panmunjom, North Korea, in this handout picture provided by the Presidential Blue House
The South and North Korean leaders will hold high-level talks on Monday to review the decisions taken during a meeting on April 27, according to local news agency Yonhap.
The summit between officials from South and North Korea will take place in the Joint Security Area of Panmunjom in the South, also known as the truce village, where the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that paused the Korean War was signed.
North Korea's state-run media insisted Thursday that officially ending the 1950-53 Korean War is the "first process" if the peninsula is going to achieve peace.The North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper described the need for a formal peace treaty as "the demand of our time" while also lamenting the "abnormal" lack of trust between Washington and Pyongyang.The United States has repeatedly made clear its view that the Korean War should only be closed once North Korea denuclearizes, although the latter sees an official state of peace as a security guarantee from Washington.North Korea's top envoy visits IranTo further complicate the standoff, South Korea already agreed with the North that they will seek to end the war by the end of this year following decades of tensions since an armistice was signed by American, North Korean and Chinese officials in 1953.South Korean lawmaker raises alarm on North’s coalSeoul's presidential office added further pressure Monday when spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters that South Korea is asking the North to "speed up its denuclearization process" and the U.S. to "show sincere efforts about corresponding measures that North Korea is demanding".Pyongyang has accused Washington of being too focused on sanctions and making "gangster-like demands" since the unprecedented summit between Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump on June 12.
North Korea urges US to relent on peace treaty stance
The South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-Gyon said the preparations for a new summit between South and North Korean leaders will also be discussed during the meeting.
On April 27, the leaders of North and South Korea agreed to a “complete denuclearization” and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The deal followed a historic bilateral summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Panmunjom.