ROK Announces Delegates for South-North Minister-level TalksOn July 24, the ROK government announced the five delegates who will participate in the upcoming South-North minister-level talks to be held in Seoul from July 29 to July 31. Unification Minister Park Jae-kyu will lead the Southern delegation to the talks. He will be accompanied by Vice Minister of Finance and Economy Uhm Rak-yong, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism Kim Soon-kyu, Defense Policy Advisor Kim Jong-hwan, and Seo Young-kyo, Director General of the Unification Ministry.The Ministry of Unification, acting at the direction of Prime Minister Lee Han-dong, notified the North of the delegation's composition via a phone link at the Panmunjom liaison's office on July 24. The Southern delegation also agreed to a revised date for the minister-level talks, which were proposed by North Korea. As per North Korea's suggestion, the inter-Korean minister-level talks will be held from July 29 to 31. The five South Korean delegates held their first joint meeting on July 24 at the Office of South-North Dialogue in Samchong-dong, Seoul, where they went over items that will be the focus of discussions at the minister-level talks. A government source commented that, "The minister-level talks will focus on ways to put into practice the Joint Declaration. The first talks in Seoul will discuss plans to carry out the Joint Declaration in general terms." |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |