Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un called this week's accord between the rival Republic of Korea (RoK) "a landmark occasion" paving the way for defused military tension and improved ties, but said it was the strength of its armed forces that made the deal possible.
DPRK and RoK on August 25 agreed to end a military standoff that sparked an exchange of artillery fire and had ratcheted up tension on one of the world's most heavily-fortified borders.
The two sides also agreed to open a new channel of dialogue to discuss a range of issues with the aim of improving ties, raising hopes for a fresh push to restore talks and exchanges that had been cut off since 2010.
"The joint press release published at the contact provided a crucial landmark occasion of defusing the acute military tension and putting the catastrophic inter-Korean relations on the track of reconciliation and trust," the DPRK's KCNA news agency on August 28 quoted Kim as saying in a meeting with military aides.
Kim said the accord was reached "thanks to the tremendous military muscle with the nuclear deterrent for self-defense built by the great party as a pivot and matchless ranks single-mindedly united around the party," KCNA said.
The comments were made at a meeting of the Central Military Commission of the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea, the same forum led by Kim last week that warned of military action unless Seoul stopped its propaganda broadcasts.
On August 28, the RoK's Unification Ministry said RoK's Red Cross had proposed, in a message sent to the DPRK, to hold working-level talks in the border village of Panmunjom on Sept. 7 to discuss reunions of separated families.
Accord on August 25 included a pact to hold the reunions of families split during the 1950-53 Korean War, many of whom are aging and hoping to see lost family members for the last time.
