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Koreas Agree to Set Up Joint Body for Economic Cooperation
North and South Korea on Saturday agreed to set up a joint committee to push forward economic cooperation and trade, a joint statement said.
The agreement was reached at the end of crucial ministerial-level talks between South Korean Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu and his North Korean counterpart Chun Kum-Jin in the southern island of Cheju.
Major projects between the two countries include the construction of a railway and an expressway across the heavily-fortified border and joint anti-flood work on the Imjin River near the border.
The six-point joint statement also said the two sides had agreed to work on procedures necessary for bilateral economic exchanges, including details for resolving commercial disputes and settling accounts.
They also shared the view that bolder steps by both sides were necessary to help as many as possible separated families to reunite with their long-lost relatives.
The establishment of a permanent centre to be used for family reunions and mail exchanges will be sought by the end of this year, South Korean officials said.
Both Koreas have agreed to allow a further 200 people from each side to reunite with their relatives this year, following the 200 who were granted permission to see their families in August.
The agreed number has fallen short of the South's expectations, given that tens of thousands of South Koreans have filed requests to find and see their relatives in the North.
Park and Jun also discussed the date for the visit to Seoul by Kim Yong-Nam, head of the North's Supreme People's Assembly and nominal head of state of the North.
Park and Jun agreed to meet again from November 28 to December 1 in a place which has yet to be decided.
Kim Yong-Nam is expected to visit the South in December before the North's supreme leader Kim Jong-Il comes to Seoul in March or April.
The thaw between the two rival Koreas follows a landmark inter-Korean summit in June in Pyongyang between President Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Jong-Il. (Source: chinadaily.com.cn)
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