North Korea and South Korea start first official talks in 2 years


Representatives from North and South Korea are now meeting in Panmunjom, a village in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), to discuss ways North Korea can participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics next month in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
These are the first talks between the countries in two years, and South Korea also said it hopes this meeting improves relations between the Koreas. "The people have a strong desire to see the North and South move toward peace and reconciliation," Seoul's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said.
Each delegation has five members, and they are meeting at a building called the Peace House. Panmunjom was founded in 1953 after the Korean War ended in a truce, as a place for both sides to meet for discussions. The village was split in half, with North Korea in charge of one side and South Korea overseeing the other.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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