DATE=7/30/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=KOREA - MEETINGS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264932
BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KHANG
DATELINE=SEOUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: North and South Korea have agreed to hold
regular high-level discussions and have proposed
reopening their suspended border liaison offices,
following talks in the South Korean capital. The
cabinet-level discussions are being held to implement
agreements reached after last month's summit between
the leaders of the two Koreas. Hyun-Sung Khang
reports from the South Korean capital, Seoul
TEXT: The annoucement of progress, followed a morning
of discussions between the visiting five-member North
Korean delegation and their South Korean counterparts.
As well as agreeing to hold regular high-level
contacts, it's
proposed the two sides reopen liaison offices in the
border town of Panmunjom. The offices were orginally
opened in 1992, but closed four years
later as relations between the two Koreas
deteriorated.
According to a South Korean delegate at the talks, the
two sides have also agreed to designate a national
reconciliation week around August 15th, the date of
Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.
During the week,
celebrations will be held to mark the inter-Korean
summit between the leaders of the two Koreas. A
reunion of 200 separated family members is also
planned as part of the celebrations.
A South Korean delegate, said the talks started amid a
very friendly
atmosphere, unparalleled in the past. Delegates from
both sides pledged to uphold the spirit of the
historic inter-Korea summit and make efforts to bring
a lasting thaw to the divided Korean peninsula. To
avoid political friction, no flags or other national
emblems were used for the talks.
The five-member delegation from North Korea and their
South Korean counterparts are also expected to discuss
the proposed visit to the SOuth by
North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il; as well as military,
economic and social exchanges.
This is the first time in eight years that senior-
level North Korean envoys have visited the South.
Technically the two Koreas remain in a state of war as
their civil conflict of 1950-1953 ended in a truce
rather than a peace
treaty. But this visit by the North Korean delegation
comes as Pyongyang shows increasing signs of wanting
to engage with the international
community. (Signed)
NEB/HSK/PLM
30-Jul-2000 05:22 AM EDT (30-Jul-2000 0922 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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