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Read the script:
SOUTH KOREAN AND NORTH KOREAN OFFICIALS HAVE RECENTLY BEGUN DISCUSSIONS WITH ONE ANOTHER AFTER TWO YEARS OF SILENCE.
THE DISCUSSIONS BEGAN WITH TALKS ABOUT THE UPCOMING OLYMPICS. THE NORTH WHICH HAS REMAINED A CLOSED COUNTRY TO THE REST OF THE WORLD HAS AGREED TO MARCH UNDER ONE FLAG WITH SOUTH KOREA. THE LAST TIME THIS HAPPENED WAS AT THE 2007 WINTER GAMES IN CHANGCHUN, CHINA.
THE TWO COUNTRIES ALSO PLAN TO COMPETE WITH A JOINT WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY TEAM.
THE TALKS BETWEEN THE TWO TAKE PLACE IN A SPECIAL TRUCE VILLAGE BUILT NEAR THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES. WILL RIPLEY HAS THE DETAILS.
WILL: THE KOREAN DEMILITARIZED ZONE. A PLACE WHERE TWO WORLDS COLLIDE. DICTATORSHIP AND DEMOCRACY. STARING EACH OTHER DOWN.
CHAD O'CARROLL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KOREA RISK GROUP "IT'S A VERY, VERY VIVID REMINDER OF JUST WHAT'S AT STAKE ON THE PENINSULA."
THE FIRST OFFICIAL TALKS IN TWO YEARS BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA WILL BE HELD IN PANMUNJOM - THE SO-CALLED TRUCE VILLAGE STRADDLING THE 38TH PARALLEL.
THE TENSE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TWO NEIGHBORS STILL TECHNICALLY AT WAR.
DELEGATIONS FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE DMZ WILL BE SITTING A STONE'S THROW AWAY FROM THE PATH A NORTH KOREAN SOLDIER TOOK IN NOVEMBER IN A DRAMATIC DEFECTION - SHOT 5 TIMES RUNNING SOUTH.
THE TALKS WILL TAKE PLACE IN PEACE HOUSE.
ONE OF THREE BUILDINGS IN THE TRUCE VILLAGE BUILT SPECIFICALLY FOR DISCUSSIONS LIKE THIS.
TWO IN THE SOUTH, ONE IN THE NORTH.
CHAD O'CARROLL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KOREA RISK GROUP "SOMETIMES THE TWO KOREAS HAVE DISAGREEMENTS OVER WHICH SIDE THE TALKS SHOULD BE ON."
THIS TIME, THEY'RE THE SOUTH SIDE.
NORTH KOREAN OFFICIALS WILL LIKELY PASS THROUGH THE SAME BLUE HUTS I FIRST VISITED IN 2015.
THE YEAR THE LAST ROUND OF MARATHON TALKS TOOK PLACE.
LASTING SOME 44 HOURS - NEARLY TWO DAYS.
TO UNDERSTAND THE DMZ - WE NEED TO GO BACK TO THE END OF WORLD WAR TWO.
THE SOVIETS AND AMERICANS DIVIDED KOREA - JUST LIKE THEY DID GERMANY.
MOST HISTORIANS SAY THE COMMUNIST NORTH TRIED TO GET IT ALL -- BY INVADING THE SOUTH.
THE NORTH SAYS IT WAS THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
TECHNICALLY THE WAR NEVER ENDED.
AN ARMISTICE AGREEMENT PUT BOTH KOREAS BACK ON THEIR SIDE OF THE DIVIDING LINE.
A STANDOFF -- NEARLY 65 YEARS AND COUNTING.
TODAY - NORTH KOREA IS FACING ITS TOUGHEST SANCTIONS EVER
CHAD O'CARROLL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KOREA RISK GROUP "FOR THE NORTH KOREANS, THE MOTIVATION TO TAKE PART IN THESE TALKS IS UNDOUBTEDLY DUE TO THE PRESSURE THAT IS BUILDING UP ON THE COUNTRY."
PRESSURE THAT ONLY STANDS TO INCREASE IN 2018 - UNLESS BOTH SIDES FIND A DIPLOMATIC PATH.
A PATH THAT BEGINS HERE IN PANMUNJOM - A PAINFUL REMINDER OF THE REGION'S VIOLENT PAST, TENSE PRESENT, AND UNCERTAIN FUTURE.