can it be? can it really be?


North and South Korea talks go into a second day
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34026076

North and South Korea are to hold a second round of top-level talks on Sunday to defuse growing tension, officials from the South say.

The announcement was made after several hours of negotiations on Saturday.

Senior aides to the two countries' leaders met at the Panmunjom truce village on the border.

North Korea had threatened "strong military action" if the South did not stop border loudspeaker broadcasts that had provoked a "semi-state of war".

The two sides have agreed to meet again on Sunday afternoon to "narrow down differences" as overnight talks were finally wound up after nearly 10 hours of negotiations.

No media organisations were present at the talks, which took place inside the Demilitarised Zone which divides the two Koreas.

South Korea said ahead of the talks that it would be represented by national security adviser Kim Kwan-jin and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo, and the North would send senior officials Hwang Pyong-so and Kim Yong-gon.

Mr Hwang is seen by many analysts as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's second-in-command.

North Korea had earlier issued a deadline for the dismantling of banks of loudspeakers, which have been blasting news bulletins, weather forecasts and music from the South. It had moved artillery into positions to fire on them.

South Korea has evacuated almost 4,000 residents from border areas and warned that it would "retaliate harshly".

Analysis: Steve Evans, BBC Korea correspondent

Each side is represented by two members of the inner circle of the leaderships in Pyongyang and Seoul.

The difficulty is that they cannot even agree on the facts of the events which led to the current state of heightened tension.

It started when two South Korean soldiers were seriously injured by landmines in the so-called Demilitarized Zone between the two countries.

South Korea said North Korea planted the mines; North Korea said that was absurd.

Both sides say the other then fired the first shot in the artillery barrages.

The talks will not diminish the fierceness of the rhetoric between the two halves of Korea, but they may find a way for both sides to walk away safely from a dangerous situation before it explodes.

US and South Korean fighter jets have been flying in formation near the border.

The US's top military officer has reaffirmed his country's "unwavering commitment" to South Korea's defence in a phone call to his South Korean counterpart.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey and South Korea's Admiral Choi Yoon-hee agreed they would "ensure that the US and [South Korea] continue to work closely with one another to deter further North Korean provocations and defuse tensions," a Pentagon statement said.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, because the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Loudspeakers and psychological warfare

In 2004, South Korea and North Korea reached an agreement to dismantle their propaganda loudspeakers at the border.

The broadcasts were part of a programme of psychological warfare, according to South Korean newspaper Korea Times, to deliver outside news so that North Korean soldiers and border-area residents could hear it.



North Korea meets for talks with South Korea after high tensions
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/22/asia/koreas-tensions/

North, South Korea officials meet at DMZ in bid to ease tension
http://news.yahoo.com/south-korea-ready-respond-further-provocations-norths-deadline-023346822.html

Two Koreas reopen talks Sunday 3: 30 p.m.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/08/485_185366.html

What!! Im going korea next month..
They better make peace

better get those flexi-tickets

NNNNNOOOOOOO....don't go Stefie!! I mean, I love Seoul, but maybe not right now.

Really!!! Aaaahhhh..

Will have to check with my friends on this again. I'm so looking forward to this trip

It's just posturing, this happens every few months with N.Korea

Not much new. Just more crap from the crazy.

We will see....Hoping that its just propaganda...

But it is now the son leading the north... Who knows whats on his minds and what agenda his advisers have that didnt pan out with the father...
This is the first time its been on our local news here since the father died....
And considering that china has been doing some nasty political moves in the region...there might be trouble brewing...

The North just talks a lot of $hit then quietly figures out a way to save face and back down. Good thing too because we don't have a POTUS with the balls to pull the trigger and back up South Korea if all hell broke loose......

like what Pansy said.. now the son is taking over, we will never know what will happened. Anyway just have to monitor and see how the situation goes..

I personally would think long and hard over this one...
I also would reconsider right now.
As it has been said this is one that we all think we know what will happen but it is a whole new ball game now...

That little pompous snot is out to make a name for himself...

Thanks for the advise Sitka.. My friends and I are still discussing on this.. but the airfare is cheap so now I know why..