Koreas near pact

SEOUL, JULY 30. Landmark talks today saw senior officials from the two Koreas come close to an agreement to reopen liaison offices in the truce village of Panmunjom, a move that would reduce tensions on the long-divided peninsula.

South Korea's Vice-Minister for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Kim Soon-kyu, told reporters at the close of the meeting that the two sides planned to announce a joint agreement tomorrow morning.

``We have decided to announce what we have agreed upon tomorrow morning after fine-tuning some practical points,'' he said.

``In the meeting, we realised our positions were not much different,'' he said without elaborating.

Mr. Kim said the 40-minute session which ended at 7 p.m. had been ``sincere, hopeful and productive.'' Earlier, Mr. Kim said the two sides were nearing a pact on reopening liaison offices at Panmunjom.

Panmunjom is the only crossing point along the heavily fortified demilitarised zone that sealed the division of the Korean peninsula after the 1950-53 Korean war ended in an armed truce.

North and South Korea first set up liaison offices in 1992 during a rare blossoming of goodwill after the Prime Ministers of the two sides signed a treaty that included a non- aggression agreement.

But Pyongyang abandoned its office as relations worsened once more after a North Korean submarine landed 26 agents on a South Korean beach.

- Reuters

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Section  : International
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