In Pyongyang, the first meeting between authors of the two Koreas

The first meeting since the 1945 partition of the country will be held in July

Seoul (AsiaNews) – In July, North Korea will host the first joint meeting between North and South Korean writers since the partition of the country in 1945. The news was broadcast today through a press release by the event organizers.

The Association of Writers for National Literature announced that its northern counterpart, the Choson Writers' Alliance had accepted the proposal to hold a series of meetings from 20 to 25 July in Pyongyang, mount Myohyang and mount Paekdu. The initiative – intended to commemorate the historic joint declaration of 15 June 2000 – should have taken place last August but political tensions caused the meeting to be cancelled at the last minute.

Jeong Do-sang, South Korean author and vice-president of the Writers' Association's Reunification Committee said "a fax from the north [arrived], confirming the meeting in July". "From tomorrow until next Thursday, the two organizations will discuss details in a series of meeting in Mount Kumgang in the north.

More than 200 writers and journalists from both Koreas are expected to participate in the July meetings. The last event of this kind dates back to 13 December 1945, when North Koreans Han Sol-ya and Lee Ki-yong visited Seoul. After February 1946, the authors from the south started to meet without representatives from the north. Later, both sides set up separate associations.  

• south
• korea
• north
• korea
• unification
• reconciliation
• writers
• associations