LEAD: N. Korea mission arrives in Seoul for ministerial talks

0 Comments | Asian Political News, Feb 9, 2004

SEOUL, Feb. 3 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

A five-member North Korean delegation arrived in South Korea on Tuesday for the 13th inter-Korean ministerial talks, which aim to boost bilateral exchanges and economic cooperation.

The bilateral talks will be held from Wednesday to Friday with the dispute over North Korea's nuclear weapons program and issues related to bilateral projects and exchange programs as major agenda items.

China announced Tuesday that the second round of six-nation talks to discuss the North Korean nuclear crisis would be held in Beijing from Feb. 25, a date agreed to by both North Korea and the United States.

The announcement came after a report earlier in the day by the North's official Korean Central News Agency that Pyongyang has agreed to hold the next round from Feb. 25.

Kim Ryong Song, head of the five-member North Korean delegation, said in an informal meeting with South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se Hyun, who heads the five-member South Korean delegation, that inter-Korean cooperation is important for substantive results to be achieved at the next nuclear talks.

''Cooperation between the South and the North is important in seeking the key to the resolution of the nuclear issue at the six-party talks and achieve substantive results (on the talks),'' said Kim, who is a senior North Korean cabinet councilor.

Other topics expected to be taken up at the inter-Korean talks include reconnecting cross-border railways and roads, establishing an industrial complex in the North, revitalizing a tourism project at the North's Mt. Kumgang and arranging the ninth round of temporary reunions of separated family members, according to media reports.

The North Korean officials, who arrived at Incheon International Airport west of Seoul via Beijing, were to attend a banquet hosted by the South Korean side later Tuesday.

The first round of the multilateral nuclear talks by the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, was held in Beijing in August last year, but ended without agreement on a date or venue to hold the second round.

The ministerial talks have been the highest channel of communication to discuss reconciliation efforts and economic cooperation since the historic summit between then South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in June 2000.