NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

North Korea is still not responding to South Korea’s messages, although it expressed interest in restoring in cross-border relations fro two consecutive days through statements issued by Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Government and military officials said the North again did not answer the South’s phone calls made via the inter-Korean joint liaison office and maritime military communication lines on Monday morning. Pyongyang has been rejecting Seoul’s phone calls since South Korea and the U.S. began a joint military exercise for crisis management and staff training on August 10.
South Korea and the U.S. will discuss key pending issues and security on the Korean Peninsula at a two-day defense meeting in Seoul. The two sides began the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue on Monday. Before opening the meeting, the Defense Ministry’s chief policy maker Kim Man-ki said now is time for Seoul and Washington to cooperate more closely, noting President Moon Jae-in’s latest call for a declaration ending the Korean War.