DATE=8/30/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=KOREAS TALKS (L) NUMBER=2-265966 BYLINE=HYUN SUNG KHANG DATELINE=SEOUL CONTENT= VOICED AT: TEXT: South Korea has proposed to North Korea that they set up a military hotline and hold top-level security talks between the two countries. As Hyun-Sung Khang reports from Seoul, South Korea's unification minister made the proposal in Pyongyang Wednesday during a new round of formal ministerial-level talks. TEXT: Accompanied by a four-member delegation, South Korea's Unification Minister Park Jae-kyu says the proposal of top-level military talks and a military hotline will ease tensions between the two Cold War enemies. The chief North Korean delegate Jon Kum Jin did not respond immediately to the proposals, but he is quoted to have said later that there was "considerable commonness" between the two sides. However, the North Koreas did complain that a joint military exercise presently being held between the South and the United States was damaging inter-Korean relations. During the morning session of the talks, South Korea also proposed signing an agreement that would guarantee investment and avoid double taxation. Economic analysts say this would help promote economic cooperation between the two Koreas. This is the second round of ministerial talks, since the June summit between the two Korean leaders. The first set of talks, held in Seoul last month, resulted in an agreement to reopen liaison offices in the border town of Panmunjom and reconnect a railway between the two Koreas. This meeting is part of a rapid thaw spreading across the peninsula. The Koreas never concluded a peace treaty after the Korean War ended in 1953. (signed) NEB/HK/HSK/GC/JO 30-Aug-2000 04:34 AM LOC (30-Aug-2000 0834 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
