YONHAP NEWS

NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 475 (November 22, 2007)

   *** TOPIC OF THE WEEK (Part 1)

Inter-Korean Prime Ministerial Talks Produce Wide-ranging Agreements

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- In another major step toward peace and co-prosperity, South and North Korea reached agreement on Nov. 16 on wide-ranging economic cooperation projects at the end of the three-day prime ministerial talks held in Seoul.

   The Koreas agreed to begin a cross-border cargo railway service in December and jointly repair the North's dilapidated roads and railways next year as a follow-up to reconciliation measures agreed upon at their recent summit. In order to set up a shipbuilding district in North Korea's city of Anbyon from the first half of next year, the two Koreas will begin inspections next month.

   The Koreas also agreed to launch Internet and phone services at a joint industrial park in Kaesong next year, and to launch a committee in December to push for establishment of a peace zone in the disputed waters of the West Sea. The premiers' talks were the first of their kind since 1992.

   South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-il signed the lengthy joint agreement, comprising a total of 49 clauses in eight articles.

   They also reached two separate agreements on establishing committees to create a peace zone and expand economic cooperation. The premiers' meeting was a follow-up to the summit talks between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang in early October. The two leaders promised to expand economic cooperation and foster peace on the peninsula.

   Following the prime ministers' talks, both Koreas assessed the outcome as "outstandingly substantial," but some observers gave a more cautious evaluation.

   North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the Koreas had an "exhaustive discussion on practical issues upholding and honoring the June 15 joint declaration and fully implementing the Oct. 4 declaration and adopted an agreement on the talks and annexed agreements." The KCNA said the "North and South agreed to definitely turn the inter-Korean relations into those of mutual respect and trust in the spirit of 'By our nation itself' and take steps to develop them for the purpose of reunification."
The accord at the talks is aimed at facilitating transportation of personnel and materials between the South and the Kaesong industrial complex in the North, where dozens of South Korean firms employ over 20,000 North Korean workers.

   The railway renovation and linkage agreement comes as South Korea, Russia and China have been discussing ambitious projects to connect the two Koreas' railway systems to the Trans-Siberian and Trans-China railways so products from South Korea, the world's 11th-largest economy, can be transported to Europe more cheaply and quickly.

   "The South and the North agreed to begin cargo railway services between Munsan and Bongdong on Dec. 11," the joint statement said, referring to a 20-kilometer railway section that connects South Korea and Kaesong. Another section of the railway connects Kaesong to Sinuiju, the northern gateway to China, via Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

   In order to maintain the momentum from the summit talks, the two prime ministers conducted the discussions in an amicable manner and agreed to regularize several high-level meetings. The prime ministerial talks will be held every six months, with the next round to be held within the first half of next year in Pyongyang.

   The joint economic cooperation committee will also be held biannually, with the first round on Dec. 4 to be headed by deputy prime ministers. The joint committee on the West Sea peace zone, headed by ministers, will meet every three months, starting with the first session in Kaesong in December.

   Operation of the cross-border railway, establishment of the peace zone and even setting up Internet lines all require security guarantees from North Korea's military authorities. The two Koreas are scheduled to hold defense ministerial talks Nov. 27-29.

   Both sides also agreed to begin repairing the North's highway between Pyongyang and Kaesong next year, along with the Kaesong-Sinuiju railway.

   South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said, "The agreement is the first step toward enhancing inter-Korean relations in quality through the virtuous circle of peace and economy."
The Koreas also agreed to begin work in the first half of next year to create a joint fishing area in the West Sea where the navies of the divided Koreas clashed in 1999 and 2002 over a disputed maritime border. Known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the border was unilaterally drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations Command shortly after the 1950-53 Korean War ended.

   "The South and the North agreed to begin work to build a joint fishing zone in the first half of 2008," the agreement said. To this end, a joint committee, consisting of five to seven officials from each side, will be established. The first meeting of the envisioned committee will be held before the end of the year to discuss efficient operation of the joint fishing zone and cooperation in the fishing industry.

   The proposed cooperation zone in the West Sea includes joint utilization of the Han River estuary and joint development of the North's Haeju port. The Koreas are to conduct a joint feasibility study on the North Korean port by the year's end and finalize plans next year to turn Haeju, currently used as a naval base, into an economic center.

   Both sides also agreed to the construction of a communications center at the Kaesong industrial complex to facilitate use of the Internet and mobile phones there, and the start of tours to the North's Mt. Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula.

   The humanitarian agenda, including South Korea's proposal to regularize reunions of separated families and to address the abductee issue, is to be dealt with at inter-Korean Red Cross talks on Nov. 28-30 at the North's scenic Mt. Kumgang. The agreement did not contain the word "abductees," only saying the two Koreas agreed to further discuss "the problem regarding people whose whereabouts remain in question since the war."
The prime ministers agreed to form five subdivisions for the peace zone by creating a special economic area in Haeju and designating joint fishing zones, among other measures. The project aims to prevent clashes in the West Sea. Unification minister Lee said the agreed projects are enthusiastically supported by both Koreas and that it is key to attract investment from the private sector.

   For the separated families, the Koreas agreed to test-run an exchange of video letters between those who have participated in past reunions. In the social and cultural sectors, the Koreas decided to hold a meeting next year to discuss jointly excavating and preserving cultural assets, jointly publishing a Korean-language dictionary and arranging for participants in the 2008 Olympics to travel to Beijing by the cross-border railway.

  (END)