ROK, DPRK hold talks in inter-Korean liaison office

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held talks Friday at the inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, according to local media reports citing Seoul's unification ministry.

ROK's Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung met with Hwang Chung-song, deputy chief of the liaison office on the DPRK side.

The liaison office opened in September last year for round-the-clock inter-Korean communications.

During the meeting, Chun and Hwang discussed a range of inter-Korean issues, including a joint celebration of the 100th anniversary of the March 1 independence movement against Japan's colonial rule.

The Korean Peninsula was colonized by the Imperial Japan from 1910 to 1945. During the nationwide independence movement on March 1, 1919, about 7,500 Koreans were killed and some 50,000 arrested under the brutal crackdown by Japan, local historians said.

ROK's President Moon Jae-in and DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un agreed in their third summit in Pyongyang in September last year to jointly commemorate the 100th anniversary of the independence movement.

ROK proposed to the DPRK holding the joint celebratory event, but Pyongyang had yet to make a detailed response to the proposal.

Lee Eugene, deputy spokesperson of the Seoul ministry, told a press briefing early Friday that ROK was still waiting for the DPRK's response to the overtures.