| July
1. | - The South and the North
normalize the operation of the global merchant marine
communications network.
- A South Korean Navy vessel
off Yeonpyeong Island contacted a North Korean patrol boat
via ship-to-ship radio communications, and the North Korean
boat responded immediately to the call, thereby resuming
radio links 10 years after maritime communications were
severed in May 2008. |
| July
2. | - The ROK government begins
the renovation work for the opening of the inter-Korean
joint liaison office.
- Renovating the Inter-Korean
Exchange and Cooperation Consultation Office, accommodations
for the staff, and a comprehensive support center in the
Gaeseong Industrial Complex. |
| July 3. | - The South-North
unified basketball games are held in Pyeongyang (until July
6).
- The 101-member athletes’ delegation and the
government’s delegation led by the Unification Minister flew
to the North by military transport.
- The two Koreas
plan to hold the women’s mixed game on July 4, hold a
friendly match on July 5, and have a working-level meeting
on sports cooperation. |
| July
3. | - In Panmunjeom, the two
Koreas exchange letters of request to confirm whether the
candidates (250 persons from the South and 200 persons from
the North) for reunions of separated family members on the
occasion of National Liberation Day are still alive.
|
| July 3. | - In his speech at the launch ceremony of
a preparatory committee for events marking the 100th
anniversary of the March First Independence Movement and the
establishment of the Korean provisional government next
year, President Moon Jae-in requests joint planning of
inter-Korean projects to mark the 100th anniversary of the
March First Independence Movement.
|
| July 4. | - The two
Koreas hold the forestry cooperation talks at the Peace
House on the southern side of Panmunjeom.
- Delegates:
(South) Vice Administrator for Korea Forest Service Ryu
Kwang-su, Director of the Ministry of Unification Kim
Hoon-ah, and Director of the Korea Forest Service Cho
Byung-cheol. (North) Kim Song Jun, deputy director-general
of the General Forestry Bureau at the Ministry of Land and
Environmental Protection (MLEP); Paik Won Chol, director of
the General Forestry Bureau at the MLEP; and Ryang Ki Kun,
director of the National Economic Cooperation
Committee.
- Joint Press Release: Working together for
forest disease and pest control, and making an on-site visit
to the control area in mid-July; cooperating in forestry
science and technology; and discussing the formation of an
organization for inter-Korean forestry cooperation and the
implementation of the agreements through written
correspondence. |
| July 6. |
- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
visits North Korea (until July 7).
- “We have had
productive talks over a couple of hours and made progress on
almost every major issue. North Korea and the US will meet
in Panmunjeom on July 12 to discuss the repatriation of the
remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean war
for one or two days. We discussed how the missile engine
facility will be dismantled, and some progress made” (in a
press conference before boarding on a plane at Sunan
International Airport in Pyeongyang). |
| July 7. | - A
spokesperson for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, in a statement, expresses regret about the US’s
attitude during Secretary of State Pompeo’s visit to the
North.
- “The US’s attitude and position were
regrettable. They demanded unilateral nuclear disarmament
like a gangster while talking about CVID, declaration, and
verification. They never mentioned anything about the
establishment of a peace system.”
- “It may shake our
unshakable will for denuclearization, and it is a very risky
situation. The principle of phased and synchronous actions
is the fastest way to realize denuclearization on the Korean
Peninsula. We still have faith in President Trump.”
|
| July 9. | - The ROK government begins the renovation
work of the reunion center.
|
| July 10. | - The ROK
government announces that it will suspend the Ulchi exercise
to check wartime readiness scheduled for August.
- The
ROK and the US will separate the Ulchi exercise from the
ROK-US joint military drill Ulchi Freedom Guardian, combine
it with the ROK military’s Taegeuk exercise, and conduct the
Ulchi Taegeuk exercise from 2019. |
| July 11. | - President
Moon, in a summit meeting with the Singaporean Prime
Minister in Singapore, mentions that North Korea has
condemned the US for not taking corresponding measures,
which can be considered a negotiation strategy.
|
| July 12. |
- US President Donald Trump states that great progress is
being made between North Korea and the US and releases North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s letter dated July 6 on his
Twitter account.
|
| July
12. | - President Moon Jae-in, in
an interview with The Straits Times of Singapore, says that,
as agreed in the Panmunjeom Declaration, the ROK
government’s goal is to declare an end to war this year,
marking the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice
Agreement.
|
| July 13. |
- President Moon, in his speech at the
Singapore Lecture, mentions that, building on complete
denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula, the
South and the North will move toward an economic
community.
- He stated that since the leaders of North
Korea and the US made promises to the international
community, they will eventually fulfill their promises
regardless of whatever twists and turns may occur in the
working-level negotiations. If they fail to implement their
agreements, they will be judged by the international
community. |
| July 14. |
- The two Koreas and Russia hold a
joint seminar in Naseon, North Korea.
- Eleven persons
including Chairman Song Young-gil of the Presidential
Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation visited the North
to participate in the seminar on July 13-14.
|
| July 15. |
- North Korea and the US hold the general-level military
talks to repatriate the remains of American war dead in
Panmunjeom.
- US Secretary of State Pompeo, in a
statement, said that “Today’s talks were productive and
cooperative and resulted in firm commitments.” The follow-up
working-level talks begin on July 16, and both sides agreed
to resume the search for the remains of roughly 5,300
believed lost in the North. |
| July 15. | - The North’s
table tennis athletes visit the South to take part in the
2018 Korea Open (in Daejeon on July 17-22), hosted by the
International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
- The
25-member delegation was led by Ju Jong Chol, secretary
general of the North Korean Table Tennis Association.
- The two Koreas formed four unified teams, won mixed
doubles, and shared the third place in men’s doubles.
|
| July 16. | - North Korea and the US hold the
working-level talks for the repatriation of the remains of
American war dead in Panmunjeom.
|
| July 16. | - The two Koreas
restore the military communications line on the West
Sea.
- Communications had been severed since February
11, 2016, when the Gaeseong Industrial Complex was closed.
Telephony over copper wire was restored on January 9, 2018,
and fiber-optic cable for landline telephony and facsimile
transmissions was connected on July 16. |
| July 16. | - Five
persons including Kim Hong-gul, chairman of the Korean
Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, visit the North
(until July 19).
- They discussed the repatriation of
the remains of those forcibly conscripted into the Japanese
imperial army. |
| July 19. |
- North Korea notifies the South of
schedules for the first meeting of a joint railway survey
team and for joint inspection of the South-North connection
sections.
- Holding a working-level meeting after
inspecting the Donghae railway line (Mount Geumgang
Cheongnyeon Station Military Demarcation – Line) on July 20
and holding the first meeting of a joint survey team after
inspecting the Gyeongui railway line (Gaeseong Station –
Military Demarcation Line)
- Six North Korean
officials including Deputy Director General Kim Chang Sik of
the Ministry of Railways plan to participate in the first
meeting. |
| July 19. |
- The ROK government holds the third
meeting of the Panmunjeom Declaration Implementation
Committee.
|
| July 20. |
- The two Koreas jointly inspect the
northern section of the Donghae railway line (Mount Geumgang
Cheongnyeon Station – Military Demarcation Line) and hold a
working-level meeting.
- The 15-member South Korean
delegation led by Hwang Sung-gyu, director general of
Railways at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and
Transport (MLIT), traveled to the North by the Donghae
Line. |
| July 20. | - North Korea condemns President Moon’s
comment made at the Singapore Lecture that “If they fail to
implement their agreements, they will be judged by the
international community.”
|
| July 23. | - 38 North
reports that North Korea begins the dismantling of the
Seohae (West Sea) Satellite Launching Station. - 38 North
said that satellite imagery taken on July 20 shows that it
appears that the key facilities of the Seohae Satellite
Launching Station are being dismantled.
|
| July 23. | - The US
Departments of State and Treasury jointly issue the North
Korea Sanctions and Enforcement Actions Advisory.
|
| July 24. |
- The two Koreas jointly inspect the northern section
(Gaeseong Station – Military Demarcation Line) and hold the
first meeting of the inter-Korean joint survey team.
-
The 15-member South Korean delegation led by Hwang Sung-gyu,
director general of Railways at the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, and Transport, traveled to the North by the
Gyeongui Line. |
| July 24. |
- US President Donald Trump, in his
speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States
National Convention, states that “New images, just today,
show that North Korea has begun the process of dismantling a
key missile site. And we appreciate that.”
|
| July 25. | - The ROK
Minister of Unification talks on the phone with US Secretary
of State Pompeo.
|
| July
26. | - The National Human Rights
Commission of Korea decides to conduct an ex officio
investigation into the incident in which the North Korean
female workers defected to the South en masse.
|
| July 27. |
- The ROK government suspends approval of the visit to the
North by owners of factories in the Gaeseong Industrial
Complex.
|
| July 27. |
- North Korea repatriates the remains
of 55 American war dead from Wonsan, Gangwon Province.
|
| July 29. | - Thirty-four North Korean athletes visit
the South to join the unified teams in canoeing, rowing, and
women’s basketball at the Asian Games.
|
| July 30. | - North
Korea suggests to the South a joint survey of the Gyeongui
and Donghae roads from August 10 to 30.
- Pak Ho
Young, chief for the road cooperation talks, made a proposal
to hold the first meeting of the joint road survey team on
the occasion of the joint survey. |
| July 30. | - North Korea
suggests to the South an on-site visit to Mount Geumgang for
joint control of forestry pests and diseases on August
8.
- Kim Song Jun, chief for the forestry cooperation
talks, made the proposal. |
| July 31. | - The two Koreas
hold the ninth general-level military talks at the Peace
House on the southern side of Panmunjeom.
- Delegates:
(South) Kim Do-kyun (chief), director general for North
Korea Policy at the Ministry of National Defense (MND); Cho
Yong-geun, director of the North Korea Policy Division at
the MND; Ahn Sang-min, director of the Maritime Operations
Division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Lee Jong-joo,
director of the Inter-Korean Dialogue Division 1 at the
Ministry of Unification; Han Seok-pyo, Assistant Secretary
to the President at the National Security Office. (North)
Army Lieut. Gen. An Ik San (chief), Army Col. Um Chang Nam,
Army Col. Kim Dong Il, Navy Capt. Oh Myong Chol, and Army
Lieut. Col. Kim Kwang Hyup.
- The two sides agreed to
demilitarize the Joint Security Area in Panmunjeom, jointly
excavate the remains of war dead within the DMZ, remove
guard posts in the DMZ on a trial basis, and cease hostile
acts against each other on the West Sea. |
