Koreas reach reunion, talks deal
( 2002-08-15 09:04 ) (1 )

A joint press statement containing 10 main agreements was released at the end of the third plenary session of the seventh inter-Korean ministerial talks Wednesday afternoon.

The statement said the eighth inter-Korean ministerial talks will be held on Oct.19-22 in Pyongyang, and the second inter-Korean economic talks will be held from Aug.26 to 28 in Seoul.

The latter will cover issues such as the reconnection of the inter-Korean railways and roads, construction of an industrial base in the DPRK city of Kaesong and joint anti-flood measures along the Imjin River, according to the joint statement.

On the reconnection of the inter-Korean railways and roads, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) agreed to start work together, but the accurate date was not yet fixed on consideration of some technical factors.

The military authorities of the two sides will hold talks within a short period of time, and they consent to provide military guarantee to the reconnection actions as early as possible, said the statement.

Also, a working-level talks will be held in mid-September at Mount Geumgang of DPRK to discuss the joint survey of An Byun power plant and dam of DPRK by the two sides.

The fifth reunions of the separated families are set to be held around Sept.21 "Chusok" (a Korean traditional festival) at Mount Geumgang according to the convention of the fourth reunions which were held in May.

And the fourth Red Cross talks of the two sides is scheduled tobe held from Sept.4 to 6, with the main purpose being to discuss the issue of building a reunion center, according to the statement.

The two delegations also agreed to hold the second government-level talks on Sept.10-12 at Mount Geumgang to activate the Mount Geumgang tour project which is now in stagnation, the statement said.

On the participation of the DPRK in the Asian Games, the two sides agreed to cooperate so that the working-level meeting on Aug.17-20 on this issue will reach an agreement.

The statement also expressed the hope to hold the inter-Korean soccer match successfully on Sept.7 through mutual efforts.

Finally, the two sides decided to enhance the exchanges in "taekwondo," a Korean traditional exercise. The ROK performing group of taekwondo will visit Pyongyang in the mid September, and the group of DPRK will visit Seoul in late October, said the statement.

The statement said that the two delegations coordinated the stands on the above issues in the spirit of implementation of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration of 2000.

After achieving the intended goals of its visit, the DPRK delegation left the Shilla Hotel, where they resided and met with its ROK counterpart during the three-day ministerial talks, for the Incheon International Airport around 6:00 p.m.

A significant scene caught spectators' eye when DPRK chief negotiator Kim Ryong-song and his ROK counterpart Jeong Se-hyun walked out the hotel gate hand-in-hand. Enditem