The two Koreas on Thursday agreed to resume ministerial talks in Pyongyang on Feb. 27. Representatives from the two Koreas met for a total of 40 minutes, 30 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon, in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, in the fastest agreement between the two sides on record. Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Kwan-se, the South Korean representative, said the two sides “agreed that we need to hold talks at an early date." He added they did not discuss the agenda for the talks. But the ministers from both sides will likely focus on the rice and fertilizer aid North Korea requested during the last round. Before contacts were suspended due to North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests, the South Korean side had focused on reuniting families separated by the Korean War, prisoners of war and abduction victims who remain in the North.

A working-level meeting for the realization of inter-Korean ministerial-level talks was held at Janamsan Inn in Kaesong, North Korea on Thursday. Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Kwan-se, the South Korean representative to the talks (left), shakes hands with North Korean delegate Maeng Kyong-Il, deputy chief of the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, before the start of the meeting.

Seoul acted with unusual speed to put inter-Korean relations back on track after six-party talks on the North’s nuclear program reached an agreement on Tuesday. There is persistent speculation that the government wants to bring about a second meeting between the two Korean heads of state to revive its flagging popularity ahead of presidential elections in December. Seoul reportedly proposed the resumption of working-level talks on Monday, a day before the six-party agreement was officially concluded, and the North accepted a day later. Vice Unification Minister Shin Un-sang told reporters Wednesday that North Korea “requested resumption of the talks through various channels.” Either way, pundits say the two sides understood each other’s implicit or explicit intentions.

A senior government official dismissed speculation of an under-the-table agreement, saying inter-Korean dialogue was part of a “coordination mechanism” among Seoul, Washington, Beijing and Pyongyang.

The Unification Ministry spokesman called the Beijing agreement “an important step” in the normalization of inter-Korean relations. Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said immediately after the Beijing agreement that it was important to reopen inter-Korean ministerial talks, which have been suspended for eight months.

On Wednesday, the former unification minister and ruling Uri Party chairman Chung Dong-young again called for another inter-Korean summit. He said Seoul should push for the summit this year, “the sooner, the better.” On Thursday, former president Kim Dae-jung told Japan’s Kyodo news agency that there was a 70-80 percent chance of a second summit and predicted “the light of peace” will shine on the Korean Peninsula this year. He said a U.S.-North Korean summit was also possible. Observers say the ruling party was so happy about the Beijing agreement particularly because it increased the chance of another inter-Korean summit at a difficult time for the party.

The government has less than a year left in office, which would explain the hurry to bring the summit about. Rumors in the ruling party have it that a close aide of President Roh moo-hyun will leave for China to meet with North Korean officials, or that a former student activist-turned presidential aide will go on an overseas “business” trip with National Intelligence Services officials.

(englishnews@chosun.com )