S.Korea Regretful over Canceling of Inter-Korean Ministerial Meeting

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 07, 2003

S.Korea Regretful over Canceling of Inter-Korean Ministerial Meeting

The South Korean government sent a message to Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Monday expressing regret that a scheduled high-level inter-Korean meeting failed to be held.

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The South Korean government sent a message to Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Monday expressing regret that a scheduled high-level inter-Korean meeting failed to be held.

In a message read over the telephone and bearing the signature of South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun, the government said, "It is regrettable that the 10th Inter-Korean Ministerial Meeting, slated for April 7-10 in Pyongyang, has failed to take place," according to South Korean National news agency Yonhap News.

The 10th inter-Korean high-level talks was fixed on the Ninth Inter-Korean Ministerial Meeting held on Jan. 21-24 in Seoul. And since April 2, the South Korea part has been trying to contact the DPRK to make clear preparations for the new round talks but the latter has not given any responses, reported Yonhap.

"The South-North ministerial talks would have given all Koreans and the international community confidence in peace on the Korean Peninsula," said the statement, adding that the more difficult international situations become, the more important it is for the two countries to have dialogue to resolve pending issues.

The first round of inter-Korean ministerial talks began in 2000 after the historic summit between South Korean then President Kim Dae-jung and DPRK top leader Kim Jong IL in June 2000. And South Korea and DPRK have been taken advantage of such channel to discuss bilateral pending issues and fix plans of inter-Korean cooperation.

The DPRK earlier has announced delay of two inter-Korean meetings on economic cooperation and marine issue which were scheduled in late March in Pyongyang, claiming Seoul has heightened its military alert during the Iraqi war against the DPRK and censuring joint South Korean-US military games in the Korean Peninsula.

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