The two Koreas have agreed to resume joint humanitarian and economic projects seven months after they were put on hold. Delegates to the latest inter-Korean ministerial talks agreed in Pyongyang to restart cross-border reunions of families who were separated by the Korean War. They also say reunions via video conferencing will start in the last week of this month. Three days of video reunions will be held, and face-to-face reunions are expected to resume in the Mt. Kumgang region in North Korea in early May. The agreement comes after four days of see-saw talks.
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South Korea's chief delegate to the 20th inter-Korean ministerial talks, Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung (third from left) and his North Korean counterpart Kwon Ho-ung, the chief Cabinet councilor, shake hands after a joint agreement on Friday summarizing four-day talks in Pyongyang./Yonhap
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Ministers also agreed immediately to resume construction of a reunion center in the North, which has been suspended since July last year. Red Cross officials from the two sides will open working-level discussions to that end next week. They will also meet in April to discuss South Koreans who went missing during and after the Korean War including POWs and citizens who are believed to have been kidnapped.
In the six-point agreement, Seoul's Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong and his Pyongyang counterpart Kwon Ho-ung also agreed to open economic talks in March and April. Details of the resumption of Seoul's rice and fertilizer aid to the North and test runs of the reconnected cross-border railway will top the agenda at the economic talks. The North has asked South Korea to resume annual donations of rice and fertilizer which have been suspended since Pyongyang's missile test last year. The next inter-Korean ministerial talks will start in Seoul between May 29 and June 1.
Arirang News
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