Koreas Fine-Tune Cooperation Projects
2003-08-28
South and North Korea fine-tuned their joint economic agendas on the second day of the sixth meeting for inter-Korean economic cooperation in Seoul on Wednesday (Aug. 27).
The two sides exchanged drafts of a joint statement and were engaged in consultations before issuing a final version on Thursday. The ongoing talks are the first since the suicide of Hyundai Asan chairman and the conglomerate's heir Chung Mong-hun, who spearheaded inter-Korean economic cooperation projects despite huge losses that nearly brought his side of Hyundai Group to bankruptcy.
Chief South Korean delegate Kim Kwang-lim, the Finance-Economy Vice Minister, and his North Korean counterpart Park Chang-ryon, sat down for a meeting followed by a working-level discussion that dealt in detail with the reconnection of inter-Korean railroads and roads, an industrial park at the North Korean border city of Gaeseong and flood prevention measures for the Imjin River that separates the Koreas.
Southern officials said the sides had a hard time in narrowing differences over detailed plans, especially regarding the timeline of railroad connections and regulations governing the designation of Mt. Kumgang as a special tourism area.
The sides are scheduled to wrap up their three-day meeting with a morning session scheduled for Thursday.
A spokesman for the South Korean delegation said, "We expect tours by land to Mt. Kumgang to begin on Sept. 1 as scheduled."
At the first session held on Wednesday, officials said the South urged the North to help bring an early end to its nuclear programs. It is not known how the Pyongyang delegation responded.
The inter-Korean talks are being held at the same time as six countries; the Koreas, United States, China, Japan and Russia, are holding their first round of talks over the North's nuclear weapons program.
Source : www.korea.net
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