government owes that to the south korean people, and to make south korean people, and to make south an people, and to make south korea to be this country. myself and my government's aim is to pursue better life for all the fellow people. my fellow people, i will make sure you can feel the better life. the first thing i did asa better life. the first thing i did as a president was to put my plan in the room so i can share my day to day life with you, my fellow people. human beings should be the centre of the korean government. and in doing so the korean government. and in doing soi the korean government. and in doing so i have pursued to create more jobs, to provide better opportunities for all the fellow koreans. this year, i have also increased the minimum wage, up to 16.4 increased the minimum wage, up to 16.1; points. there are more companies who are helping, contributing, to improve minimum wage. south korean government will continue to expand such an effort for the new year. for the minimum wage labour, we will help them out to have more stable income so they can help out and lo

especially south koreans who have family in the north. koreans hold the united states responsible for that decision. there is a latent strain of running through korean society that doesn't always manifest itself but could manifest itself in a very strong way under the right circumstances. thing, theyexing have two very different governing systems. how would that rectify itself? in their minds? look at the situation in north korea versus the south, how does that all fit? >> the koreans like to claim they have 7000 years of history on the korean peninsula. that is simply not true, but it's true that they have a very long street as one united people. divergent, bute that has been a recent development. they look at the long path they've had together as proof that in the future we can reunify. how exactly would that happen? that very much remains to be seen. it's not clear how that would happen. the official plan is for a confederation, a loose confederation between the north and the south. while they try to work out the very sticky details of

then we left korea in 1949 against the wishes of the south korean government at that time who begged us to stay, who said if you leave, the north koreans will invade. when we left they asked for concrete guarantees from the united states that in the event of a northern invasion we would come back. those guarantees were never given. this is part of the reason that joseph stalin ultimately gave kim il-sung permission to invade south korea. that was not the only factor, but that was an important factor and one the south koreans have not forgotten. in fact if you go to the war , memorial museum in seoul you will see it laid out that it was the lack of american security guarantees that encouraged the north to invade. there is an underlying sense of distrust against the americans. when our president does things like call south koreans free riders on american security threatens to tear up the korea , free trade agreement, these things are very upsetting to south koreans. when he refers to the sea between korea and japan as the sea of japan instead of the east sea as is normal in previous pre

this is a minor irritant for the koreans. >> does the south korean government present -- respect the presence of u.s. troops? >> it certainly does. in a perfect world, the koreans would wish the u.s. was not there. they would wish that they could manage their own security affairs on their own. i think it is a widely held view that the u.s. presence is needed to balance the competing interests of china, north korea, formally of the soviet union. the koreans would certainly like to live in a world where the americans could be gone. there is that tension of meeting -- needing the americans but not necessarily wanting them. >> you said it is impossible as long as the kim regime is in power. give us a history of the kim regime. >> the first leader is kim il-sung who was a guerrilla fighter against the japanese. he was very young, he was actually an officer in the red army, he was brought into north korea by the soviet union to establish him as a puppet leader. when they did that, they were probably thinking they could exert more influence on him than they could. in fact, kim il-sung mainta

south? >> ie believe there are around 28,000 troops on the korean peninsula right now. base we under a concentrate program right now. this is important because previously they were stationed around the dmz. of the south by the north meant almost immediate shedding of american blood. they'll probably still happen, but the dynamics have changed. one of the reasons they wanted to do that, was they wanted to narrow the american footprints in south korea. when it was originally constructed, it was outside of soul. soul has grown so rapidly that the space is now in the very center. as the south korean government support the u.s. presence still go >> it certainly does. world, the koreans would wish the u.s. was not there. they would wish that they could manage their own security affairs on their own. is a widely held view that the u.s. presence is needed to balance the competing , north korea,hina formally of the soviet union. the koreans would certainly like to live in a world where the americans could be gone. there is that tension of meeting -- meeting -- needing the america

to south koreans. when he refers to the sea between korea and japan as the sea of japan instead of the east boil.t makes korean blood there is a chance that a preemptive strike against north korea without firm south korean support could lead to a backlash against the american president that could have unforeseen there is a chance thatconsequenr position in east asia. host: this is the history and lesson for the age. we don't have a rockstar -- in southck solid ally korea. mr. fields: we do at the moment, but that could change drastically with a rash american decision. we could get away with it, but nobody knows. there is a wholesome scent of possibilities. we tend to think if we strike first, x number of koreans will die. it will make much more sense from the north korean perspective if we were to attack them not to level seoul, but to show that they had rolled the dice with tens of mainly -- the dice with tens of millions of south korean lives. they will say, do you really need the americans? they are

ask the south koreans, do you think you need the americans on the peninsula for your security? they are the greatest threat to security on the korean peninsula. >> we have referenced china a few times in the conversation. what is the current influence that china can exert on north korea? we always see from policymakers that we are looking to them to have a bigger footprint, to help stabilize the regime. what kind of influence do they have? tremendousese have influence, but it is a blunt weapon. the chinese can put pressure on the korean regime, they could cut oil exports, imports into china. theoing so, they will risk collapse of the north korean regime. if it collapses, most of those people are not going to go south, they will go north into china. the border between china and north korea is not militarized. it is not even marked. that is the chosen route by detectors. this is not what the chinese want. they could lose a buffer between themselves and the americans in the south. on the other hand, there is a tremendous number of ethnic koreans who are chinese citizens, who live i

some critics have questioned the decision to allow south korean athletes to train at a north korean ski resort which is known as the leader kim jong un's pet project they worry that south korea is helping promote tourism there and while there has been a thaw in north and south korean relations these talks have been limited to discuss india lympics and not the bigger issue of north korea's nuclear weapons program so the question remains what happens after the olympics when the u.s. and south korea are due to resume joint military drills which always anger the north pole throughout twenty seventeen kim jong un matched aggressive woods with twenty three missiles in sixteen tests and he told to donald trump with his talk of having a nuclear button on his desk to which trump in true trump style just had to respond that his was bigger but kim's rhetoric toward south korea was markedly different even offering a hand of friendship. we should actively create an atmosphere and forward the national reconciliation and reunification improving ties between the north and the south is an urgent issues

discussion between south koreans and north koreans without any of the production framing. and they discover that they're not so different after all but have these shows actually helped in their stated goal of unifying the two koreas you don't. while these programs contribute to making south koreans interested in north korea the majority still think that it's a good state to treat all of. my i and these programs make people think how is it possible for us to live with them no way and so they end up reinforcing anti unification ideas things this kind of. guy who's north korea is always described as a poor state its people are starving their human rights are infringed people see it as pathetic and they feel a sense of alienation but over time the image of north korea here is improved a lot people are realizing that they can actually communicate with north koreans so the shows are having a positive effect that has a thong. in a situation where the stories about north korea remain scarce politicized and controlled defectors are rare source of news that the information they prov

it's 8am in singapore, midnight in london and 9am in seoul where south korean government negotiators rtly for talks with their north korean counterparts for the first time in more than two years. the two sides are expected to discuss the possibility of pyongyang sending a delegation to the winter olympics being held in south korea next month. let's go live now to the bbc‘s sophie long in seoul. and all eyes will be on the dialogue between north and south korea and what may be discussed apart from sports and is meeting? good morning, rico. yes, that is right, a lot of focus on these talks, the first government level talks between the north and south korean governments in more than two years. we know now that the south korean delegation led by the unification minister has left seoul, just over one hour ago and the convoy has crossed unification bridge on the way to the demilitarised zone, and there and panmunjom they meet with a delegation from north korea, and they will walk to the meeting room on foot. i have been speaking to people about what they think is going to come out of these

earlier i spoke to the bbc‘s sophie long who is in the south korean capital seoul just before they satto begin those talks, the first time there has been government—level talks between the north korean and south korean governments in more than two years, there was a lot of national press there. a huge amount of interest in this, of course, here, and both parties spoke to media present. ri son—gwon, the north korean leader of the delegation, said that he was here with the hope that we could give a new year's gift to our people, and he said he hopes for precious results from these talks. he actually suggested that they could allow the media to stay in the room in peace house where these talks are going on. the south korean unification minister said, because they hadn't met for so long, that perhaps they should continue in the way they have always done things, which is without the media present, and perhaps they could open things up as those talks continue. now, we are expecting to have an update. top of the agenda is whether or not pyongyang will send a delegation to the winter olympics,

it is 9:00am in singapore, 1:00am in london, and 10:00am in seoul, where south korean government negotiatorsre meeting for talks with their north korean counterparts for the first time in more than two years. the two sides are expected to discuss the possibility of pyongyang sending a delegation to the winter olympics being held in south korea next month. it is hoped it could reduce tensions on the korean peninsula, which have reached their highest point in decades. let's go live now to the bbc‘s sophie long, in seoul. sophie, everyone is watching and waiting. what could be the result of this dialogue between north and south korea, and the discussions, apart from the olympics? yes, that's right. the huge amount of focus here on these talks. the first time government level talks had ta ken place between the two countries in more than two years. now, we know that the south korean delegation arrived in the village which straddles the border between the countries just after 9am this morning. we heard the north korean delegation walked across the military demarcation line just after 9:30am this m

easing tension between north and south korea inter korean relationship resuming resumption of a. reunion of separated families etc so this and thirst there will be a south korea playing some kind of a role between north and united states a bilateral relationship and fourth eventually addressing the denuclearization of the entire korean peninsula if you followed these proposals this is indeed actual north korea just responding to president wins against a proposal that i think president trump the right thing to publicly come out and supporting the this this process and the second thing that is very important is that if you look at it yes there there will be a major breakthrough because north korea has achieved. a nuclear deterrent you know on its own record and as you can as we saw from new year's this. beach north korea field that you just very confident it has a new clear deterrent capability and as the new year's address pointed out the next step is to move forward to economic development so if you take the true and i'm sorry to jump you talk about this nuclear deterrent this nuc

the south korean team.t that, we want reification. the north koreans on our team will just drag it down. that was one man's opinion. discussions,these are we likely going to see any breakthrough? what are the expectations, here? is it low, in terms of what will come out of this? the olympics give an opening for kim jong-un. i am not going to say this is the sunshine period between the north and south, but this is an opening to at least have the two sides discuss. the bigger question is how lasting this will be. beyond when the olympic games will wrap up and all the goodwill of the games has evaporated untold he gets back into the cold war, -- u ntil we get back into the cold war. and how far does north korea try to drive a wedge between the u .s.? how will china keep this dialogue going? will we have party talks with russia and japan getting involved? we will take baby steps right now, to get these two sides, the north and south, at least discussing common interests and touring participation in the joint pa

south korean and north korean government negotiators are meeting for the first talks between their countriesn more than two years. they are expected to discuss whether the north will send a delegation to the winter olympics in south korea next month. a series of north korean nuclear and missile tests, and the insults traded between pyongyang and washington, have raised tensions on the peninsula to the highest in decades. live now to the south korean capital, and the bbc‘s sophie long. sophie, things have been so worrying, i guess any talks about anything our reason for some hope. yes, exactly, and there is another hope here, certainly in south korea. those two delegations are now meeting. the meeting got under way just over one hour ago. just before they sat down to begin those talks, they sat down to begin those talks, the first time there has been government level talks between the north korean and south korean governments in more than two years, there was a lot of national press there, a huge amount of interest in this, of course here, and both parties spoke to media present. the north ko

south korea proposes high level talks with the north now this comes a day after north korean leader kim jong un offered a rare all of branch to the south and new threats to the u.s. . plus saudi arabia embarking on a pivotal year as it introduces reforms among them lifting the ban on women driving more hear from saudi women about the chip and the call for deeper reforms. i'm brian thomas great to have you with us protests in iran have continued for a fifth consecutive day in tehran and across the country with anti-government violence reported to now be spreading state media saying more than twenty people have been killed so far demonstrations initially broke out against economic conditions but they've also been drawing in opponents of the country's religious establishment. this footage has been provided by demonstrators people have been on the streets in various parts of iran's since thursday protesting conditions in the country and this is footage provided by iranian state t.v. which claims that protesters are violent and that some have damaged a.t.m.'s buildings and other property and

interesting pictures and you know i mentioned in the russian chinese idea and then you have a south korean you have north korea if this is what it's going back to what it should have been a regional problem resolved by the countries in the region not an outsider determining what south korea's foreign policy and defense has to be should be if you point out that both russia and show you know both have good relations with both of these countries more or less right and that all four of these countries stand to benefit primarily economically from improved relations between north and south korea russia would like to supply energy to south korea they want a transport corridor through north korea providing south korea access directly through russia to your beautiful you know markets there is every potential here if they manage to push the u.s. with its big big button out of the way. that there could be a real breakthrough you know we have to start with baby steps of course in relations between north and south korea brokered by russia and china which both stand to benefit from reunification oh and

any moment now, south korean negotiators will be heading for the first high-level negotiations with north korea in more than two years. the talks are likely to focus on a possible invitation for north korean athletes to compete in next month's winter olympic games just across the border in south korea. but the talks come as tensions remain very high because of kim jong-un's missile and nuclear weapons programs. >>> democratic congressman joaquin castro, a member of the house intelligence and foreign affairs committees, he's standing by to take our questions. and our correspondents, analysts and specialists, they are standing by will full coverage of the day's top stories. >>> but let's begin with the breaking news on special counsel robert mueller's investigation on the possibility he may talk to president trump. our justice correspondent pamela brown is with us. our cnn senior political analyst gloria borger, she's with us. both have been working their sources. pamela, what do we know about mueller's team and the talks, potential talks with the president's lawyers and eventually maybe wi

north and south korean officials have expressed optimism as they begin their first high level meetingn two years. the delegation chief says talks will go well, while the south called for patients. on dmz summit will focus the north participation in the olympics, but also seen as a chance to revive negotiations. and iranian couldhemical tanker create an environmental disaster. the body of one sailor has been found, 31 others remain missing. the tanker collided on saturday. china, korea, and the u.s. have sent vessels and planes to deal with the search. a cloud of toxic smoke is hindering the effort. bitcoin stating after a slump dragged down rivals. fears grow that regulators will tighten their grip on the market. regulators in china and south korea are increasing oversight. year, there was a crackdown on ico's. president trump is close to making a decision on his nominee to be vice-chairman of the federal reserve according to a white house official speaking on condition of anonymity. theresa may's attempt to give her u.k. cover meant -- government a reboot has met a set mark -- met a

this is deja vu news live from berlin can diplomacy relieve tensions on the korean peninsula south korea poses high level talks with the north and this is just in coming just a day after north korean leader kim jong un offered a rare all of branch to the south and new threats to the u.s. we'll go live to seoul also coming up. renewed protests in iran is that country sees its most violent of rust in the years more than twenty people have been killed in the demonstrations as the government threatens a further crackdown. and it could be a make or break year for german chancellor machall look at what's in store for her in twenty eighteen as she tries to form a new coalition government. i'm brian thomas great to have you with us south korea's a government has offered to hold high level talks with north korea beginning next week the talks would focus on the participation of a north korean team in this year's winter olympics to be held in the south now the offer comes a day after north korean leader kim jong un struck a more conciliatory tone towards the south in his new year's address saying h

participation and also some are questioning if having this joint ice hockey team means that some south korean players will miss out to make room for the north koreans barbara so i mean a lot of criticisms and a lot of question marks so the south korea president has voiced his support he said it would move the hearts of people around the world but beyond the olympics how likely is it to lead to resolving the main issue obviously when it comes to north korea and that is its nuclear program. well yes i think the south korean president definitely wants this to be seen as a step in the right direction thawing the situation so that in future it could lead to a situation where north korea may be able to come to the table to talk about the nuclear is asian he wants this to be seen as a turning point in establishing peace on the korean peninsula but when denuclearization has been brought up in the past north korea has said time and time again that its nuclear weapons are not up for negotiation that is something that the japanese foreign minister was reminding his counterparts meeting in canada what we

south koreans did what the north koreans asked them maybe you can still do they started talking and they at least checked the fax machine and that already made things so well i would bet that no north korean if it's north korean t. and may go to chan for that in big games unfortunately the russian olympic team will not be allowed to do that they chose you how absurd the more than world has become but if you look at the history of the program i think the south korean story is very important it's very important what you mention south korea was allowed to become rich in their seventy's and eighty's by the united states as a deterrent against north korea against china against the soviet union. no new country itself to south korea where a load to become reach even when they became said to it's of the united states and it would ensure remember french and trading relations with the united states you get the timing the deal as a chorus and do it even if it costs them a bit as well but a lot of what is really interesting richard to me you know i mentioned in the russian chinese idea and then you

were the chief ministers who are in charge of in her career relations on both sides of from the south korean side you have the unification minister and then his north korean counterpart along with their deputies leading five member delegations on both sides that include representatives in charge of sports and culture and the olympics and it is significant because these two countries have not had any kind of communication for a long time it's been as you said more than two years since they have sat down for a formal meeting but they haven't even had informal talks in the form of picking up the phone and talking across the hotline that exists at the border for almost two years so it is significant to go straight to this high level sit down the meeting between these men and to come to an agreement on north korea sending a delegation to the winter olympics this is something that south korean president has been pushing for for some time the winter olympics is a platform for these talks but is there hope kathy they could be expanded to other issues like the north korean missile launches and u.n. s

the south koreans want to restart talks on the nuclear peninsula.korean the north koreans are poorlyemain fairly quite when that issue was brought up. in those talks which are happening across the bridge about five miles from here. manus: it is fairly impressive between north korea and south korea. symbolism, what does it do to the theater of geopolitics? yet the u.s. and china really been down on north korea. strategic move by north korea to provoke the air of donald trump? steve: yeah, it could be several different motives for accepting the south korean all of branch for the stoxx. -- south korean all of -- olive branch for these talks. , has chinascenes played a significant role flacco absolutely. -- significant role? absolutely. perhaps that push north koreans to say maybe we should make a move right now to have it rapprochement with the south koreans before donald trump and the united states can do something that would ignite the tensions even further. we don't know the behind-the-scenes but what we do know is there is progress being made. baby steps but progress. manus: we will

the south koreans are wary as well. e united states to not want the north koreans to drive a wedge between south koreans and americans. we have been here before. we had talks in 2013, 2015, and 2009. suppose the question is, what are the expectations? are they being managed? what is different this time? period of back a shotsrth rhetoric, cheap coming from the leaders of the two countries that have escalated tensions. north korea advanced their missile technology, supposedly firing them with the threat of hitting the united states. there has been rhetoric, backed up by the north koreans, saber-rattling. and the americans as well. south koreans are doing a joint military exercises with bombers flying over the korean peninsula. the fact that north koreans took up the offer of talks from the south koreans to discuss this face to face is significant. prior to this, we seemed to be heading in the opposite direction, with a possible military confrontation. this is a good step forward. specter ofuse the peace for the limbic gam

the south korean and north korean talks. they call for deed nuclearization. will be joining the olympics next month. when they set out for talks, the first talks in two years, joking about the sub zero temperatures. be joiningthey will the olympics and pyeongchang g. not far from their quarters. they will be taking questions there. we will monitor any headlines. of course it is another day. we could be sending haidi a record. haidi: absolutely. taking a look at the pre-market. we are seeing a mixed or lower session. a bit of a stumble as we digest implications of the selloff in the bond space. through.ear ripping lots of concerns about whether presents the potential for recession. global stocks trading at a record high. move for the yuan. we have plenty more to come including the open in hong kong, shanghai, and shenzhen. this is bloomberg. ♪ retail. under pressure like never before. and it's connected technology that's moving companies forward fast. e-commerce. real time inventory. virtual changing rooms. that's why retailers rely on comcast business to deli

communication between the north and south korean governments has now been re—established. an delegation will be present at the winter olympics being hosted by the south. and a direct military hotline connecting to the two koreas has been reactivated. but there was barely a mention, and certainly no movement on the fundamental issue of north korea's nuclear and missile programme. today, the south korean president said resolving that was the only pathway to peace. translation: the de-nuclearisation of the korean peninsula is the fundamental pathway we need to follow. this cannot be compromised. this is the only way for us to achieve full peace in the korean peninsula. not everyone was in favour of the talks. some believe that the north korean leader's sudden willingness to engage with its neighbour is motivated by the desire to drive a wedge between those allied against him, as the latest round of un sanctions imposed on his regime really start to bite. but moonjae—in was adamant today that he would not allow that to happen. translation: in terms of security and defence, sout

because americans want to isolate north korea and now the south koreans are talking but but broadly speaking it's been in america's interest for a long time to get north korea to the table and get them talking to the south so i think everybody thinks this is a good thing and very interesting days ahead mr kelly thank you as always for your time we appreciate it robert kelly joining us live from jerusalem thank you have. thank you. french president emanuel mcconnell hailing has visit to china as the beginning of a historic partnership he joined president in paying and promising to promote free trade and combat climate change a vision sharply at odds with that of u.s. president donald trump problem brive has more from beijing china and france are hailing this visit as a new era for strategic partners xi jinping and emanuel mccraw signing multi-billion dollar trade deals from aerospace to nuclear energy projects and reaching what they say is common consensus on a range of issues from climate change to international security. sure we have made an agreement to

and south korean navy to try to stop ports. at north korean it does have potential ability to further heighten the effect of sanctions. i think there's no doubt about that if we were to do this. but it is also an act of war under international law. the north koreans already say the sanctions are an act of war. but this, everybody would agree in some sense, is an act of war. it is a tool that countries do not employ often. north korea might shoot back at our navy or at other assets, but beyond, that the main concern i have about this option, it doesn't prevent them trade across china, the land border, and it doesn't invent them flying high-technology equipment if for their need missile program. it runs a risk of escalation. the last option i will mention is direct assassination of kim jong-un. feel like iouldn't was being very polite bringing of an option here if it weren't already in the discussion. we know from reports last fall, there are elements of existing combined forces command plans that would go after military control o

comes to the olympics does it deserve to have sanctions lifted most people don't think so in the south korean government officials that i've talked to say don't worry they're not so naive. one question is whether this. tourist spot will open and whether south korea will allow its citizens to go and spend money which would go into the hands of the north korean regime i think the united states is probably cautioning against that and we'll see how that works out south korean president has always made a point of being open to talks with north korea but now that these talks have happened how difficult does that make his position when it comes to dealing with the u.s. and japan for that matter. well i think in is telling his counterparts you know don't be too worried that he's not a new kid on the block he's been through this game before and he's not going to give give away you know lifting sanctions but but this is all focused on having a peaceful olympics and a peaceful olympics olympics is good for the south korean psyche it's good for the south korean economy so i think the united states and ja

let's go to our correspondent florence living now who has been monitoring the address from the south korean capital seoul how much of a softening of the starts to word south korea is that that message florence. what relations between the two koreas really have been at their lowest point in decades so this is a really a piece overture that north korean leader kim jong un is making now on the relationship hasn't been very good between the two koreas in part because the previous south korean administrations have taken a more hardline approach when it came to dealing with north korea but south korean president in who only took office in may is more of the liberal now north korea seems to be appealing to that side of the south korean leader there was specific mention of the upcoming winter olympics and paralympics it's to be hosted in pyongyang chung just eighty kilometers south of the heavily border five heavily fortified border with north korea now north korea is even saying that it is willing to send a delegation something that south korean officials will no doubt be very happy to accept even

people but when it comes to this idea of national unity it seems to be more in theory to more south korean people so a poll for example found that only four out of ten support this idea of the koreas marching under a unified korean peninsula flag at the opening ceremony and we talked to people in the streets about how they felt about this move for more unity at the olympics they said they support the idea in general it's good for peace efforts but for example they don't want the government to pay the expenses for the north koreans and they don't want the south korean hockey players to be made to miss out by forming this unified korea's ice hockey team to make way for the north korean players for example different circuits you have a significant result of this than. well i think in terms of intercourse relations it's certainly significant you have this agreement that also includes seeing south koreans going into north korea for joint training exercises and a joint cultural event of course it's illegal for the most part for south koreans to visit north korea and this is all happening after n

they are an opportunity for the united states forces to train alan soady south korean forces. nt —— train alongside. they are seen as rehearsals for an invasion by north korea. that was a significant development last night. hours after that, we hear that pyeongchang has agreed to these talks at which they will discuss the talks of sending a delegation to the olympics. sophie, thank you. one of the arab world's poorest countries, yemen, has been devastated by a war which has claimed thousands of lives and seen a deadly outbreak of cholera. last month the former president ali abdullah saleh was killed by the iranian backed houthi forces who had earlier supported him, after suggestions he might do a deal with their enemy, saudi arabia. in the second of her exclusive reports inside yemen, nawal al maghafi has more from the capital sana'a. the balance of power has shifted in yemen's civil war, from the saudi coalition to their bitter rivals, iran. for years, we've watched as this proxy war tore the nation apart, killing thousands and leaving millions homeless and starving. last mont

to come they might not be scared that something would happen here on the korean peninsula but yes indeed going forward to the south korea wants to move beyond talks that darren limited to the olympics the unification minister to show said that he wants to talk about into korean relations and perhaps the subject of family reunions for koreans who were separated by the korean war and of course ultimately the elephant in the room is north korea's nuclear weapons program the international community very much wants to talk about north korea stopping the testing scaling back the program but north korea has been unwilling to discuss that yet so the starting point for now at least is the sports or it's a casanova in the south korean capital seoul thank you well graham on weber's a research fellow at nanyang technological university's institute for dissidents and strategic studies he says the talks could result in small compromises between both koreas. i think we have to manage expectations about the talks that are going underway right now i mean certainly what needs to be discussed at some point in time i mean ideally at

on south korean attitudes -- south korea does have the greatest equities involved here. as our colleague jonathan pollack likes to say, this is he korean peninsula. most importantly, there is a widespread assumption in policymaking circles in various countries that if the united states or south korea were to take overly aggressive action against north korea, it would lead to on acceptable retaliation by north orea against the republic of orea -- south korea. it is just about on the front lines. outh korean views have a presumptive value. olitical trends in south korea are important here as well. we had conservative presidents for nine years up until last year. now we have a progressive president. his ideas towards north korea relatively speaking are more conciliatory and more in favor of engagement than those of his predecessors. that raises the question whether public attitudes have moved as well. i'm going to draw on two recent polls. one is by gallup korea in september of last year and the other is by general on -- is by enron. the two posted and asked the same questio

you believe that bring gave the japanese the chinese the russians the americans to come together south koreans north korean could be the best option to try to initiate an ambitious program that's good and the crisis. before i answer that question i just want to remind everyone that the moon and ministrations so far has been very firm in its responses towards the provocations that the north koreans been activating recently if you look at the responses immediate show of force demonstrations combined operations all of the. shown the north koreans that they're dealing with not only a liberal and progressive government in south korea but a firm south korean government and a strong us korean. alliance here but that stuff by the way i also believe i could see what you're hinting at was that some other same time that's not that does not seem to be the case we've seen moon j in distancing himself from the rhetoric of president trump and saying basically i would like to give diplomacy a chance this is exactly why he stepped in a he said give the go ahead to the bilateral talks of the two delegations to

so south korean views have a presumptive value. second, political trends in south korea are important here as well. we had conservative presidents for nine years up until last year. now we have a progressive president. and his ideas towards north korea, relatively speaking, are more conciliatory and more in favor of engagement than those of his predecessors. so that raises the question whether public attitudes have moved as well. i'm going to draw on two recent polls. one is by gallup korea in september of last year and the other is by genron npo. thank you, kudosahn, for doing july.oll last the two polls didn't ask the same questions. but that's ok. first question, how much does north korea pose a threat to peace and security particularly after the last nuclear test? people in south korea, 76% say it is a threat of some degree. only 20% said it is not much of a threat. there are no illusions in south korea about the danger that their country faces from their northern cousins. second question, how likely do you think that north kore