South Korea "clear eyed" about North high-level talks

South Korea says it will continue high-level talks with North Korea with "clear eyes" amid global warnings that Pyongyang might be playing for time to continue its nuclear-arms programme.

"We have to make the most" of the opportunity, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told the BBC.

The two Koreas earlier agreed to march under a "unified Korea" flag at next month's Winter Olympics in the South.

The talks come as the US and its allies vowed to keep pressure on the North.

On Wednesday US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said sanctions were "really starting to hurt", expressing confidence that the pressure would eventually force the North to the negotiating table over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Last year, US President Donald Trump said that America would destroy North Korea if forced to defend itself or its allies.

Also on Wednesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said the world should not be blinded by Pyongyang's recent "charm offensive".

The talks came after tensions on the Korean peninsula reached their highest point in decades.

This is because North Korea has made rapid advances in its nuclear and conventional weapons programmes in recent years.

Its latest ballistic missile test, in November, sparked a series of fresh sanctions from the UN targeting petrol shipments and travel.

Soon afterwards North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was "open to dialogue". In a New Year speech, he said he was considering sending a team to the Winter Olympics.

The breakthrough announcement that the North would be sending a delegation came on  January 9.

It was also agreed that a military hotline between the nations, suspended for nearly two years, would be reinstated.

SOURCE: BBC News
---DECRYPTED---