First 'concrete' steps of reconciliation between the two Koreas

Seoul dismantles the loud speakers with which it broadcast anti-Pyongyang propaganda. North Korea brings its time zone half an hour ahead, on a par with the South. Kim Jong-un has promised to close the main nuclear test site, opening oversight to South Korean and US experts and journalists. The diplomatic ferment continues: Chinese Foreign Minister in Beijing, waiting for the US-North Korea summit and opening glimmers of hope for a meeting with Japan.

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Three days after the signing of the "Panmunjom Declaration", the two Koreas are already taking the first concrete steps towards reconciliation and the "cessation of all hostile acts".

Today, South Korea began removing the loud speakers installed along the border with the North, used to spread South Korean popular music and anti-Pyongyang propaganda. The devices have been switched off since last week, a gesture by Seoul ahead of the summit, reciprocated by the North.

This morning the North Korean national news agency Knca announced that the country will bring the clock forward 30 minutes, abolishing the "own" time zone, established in August 2015, to overcome the legacy of the Japanese occupation (1910- 45) that had imposed it. The Seoul and Pyongyang clocks will be back on the same time on May 5th.

Added to these acts is a promise made by Kim Jong-un to the South Korean president Moon Jae-in during their talks: in May Pyongyang will close the Punggye-ri site, under Mount Mantap, allowing South Korean and American experts and journalists to supervise the process. In recent days, the site has been the focus of speculation and analysis that Punggye-ri is already unusable as it has collapsed. Kim Jong-un intervened on the question: "two of the four tunnels" are still usable.

The diplomatic ferment around the two Koreas, which involves other powers, is continuing apace. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Li will travel to Pyongyang this week. The United States declares its optimism and the expectation ahead of the summit between Kim and Trump - who states that things are going very well ". The possibility has also arisen, thanks to Moon's mediation, of a meeting between North Korea and Japan, aimed at resolving the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped between the 1970s and 1980s, and since then a source of tension between the two countries .

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• south korea
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• panjunmon declaration
• intercorean summit