Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Koreas to meet tomorrow at Kaesong complex

Inter-Korean working-level talks, rather than military-level discussions, will be held tomorrow at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in order to cover issues of travel, communication and customs clearance, North and South Korea agreed yesterday.

“The two Koreas decided to open the talks at the office for economic

cooperation and consultation inside the complex,” said a defense official who requested anonymity. “The South’s five-member delegation, including some military officers, will be led by Unification Ministry official Lee Kangwoo.”

The defense official said that the inter-Korean discussions will not take

the form of military talks because the leading representative is an official

from the Unification Ministry.

“We informed the North in the morning that each side should be able to choose its own delegation for discussions at the complex,” the defense official said.

“The communist country answered without objection that it will attend the meeting to resolve pending issues.”

On Jan. 22, Pyongyang had proposed opening military talks within the complex

on Jan. 26, but Seoul wanted to wait until after working-level discussions on

the complex took place on Feb. 1. On Feb. 12, Seoul had asked Pyongyang to open the military meeting at the House of Peace, south of the truce village of Panmunjom along the demilitarized zone. Ten days later the reclusive nation requested a new date - March 2 - by maintaining the venue be the Kaesong complex for military discussions.



http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/print.asp Page 1 of 2

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