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DPRK, S.Korea Decide to Strengthen Cooperation
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea agreed Monday to reopen the South-North Liaison Office and strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
A DPRK delegation, led by Cabinet Counselor Jon Kum-jin, had three days of ministerial talks with a South Korean delegation headed by South Korean Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu in Seoul from Saturday to Monday.
In a six-point statement issued at the end of their first ministerial talks, the two sides decided to take measures to fully implement the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration signed by South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and DPRK leader Kim Jong Il.
The two sides shall proceed South-North ministerial talks in accordance with the spirit of the joint declaration and the talks should "depart from the past habits of distrust and disputes to resolve easy issues first in the spirit of mutual confidence and cooperation," said the statement.
The ministerial talks shall attach importance to actions to produce realistic outcomes and aim to achieve peace and unification, it noted.
The two sides agreed to reopen the South-North Liaison Office at Panmunjom on August 15, the statement said. The operations of the liaison office have been suspended since November 1996. The South and the North shall hold events in the South, North and overseas respectively to commemorate National Liberation Day on August 15, the statement said.
South Korea and the DPRK also agreed to cooperate and take appropriate measures to ensure that Chongryun (the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan) members can form tour groups to visit their hometowns, it said.
The two countries shall rehabilitate the Seoul-Shinuiju Railway and discuss the issue at an early date, said the statement.
The DPRK and South Korea also decided to hold the second round of South-North Ministerial-Level Talks from August 29 to 31 in Pyongyang, it said.
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