A South Korean delegation left Thursday for Pyongyang to put the final touches on arrangements for next week's inter-Korean summit, which is expected to focus on establishing a peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula and expanding economic cooperation between the two countries.
The group of 34 working-level officials, led by Deputy Unification Minister Yun Jeong-weon, will inspect President Roh Moo-hyun's accommodations, the places he will visit and the venue of his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to confirm his three-day itinerary starting Tuesday, the ministry said.
The inspection team, the second of its kind, will focus on verifying that North Korea has implemented the requests made last week by South Korea's first advance team for the summit.
The delegation of mostly security, protocol and communications officials as well as technicians for live television coverage also seeks to settle outstanding issues for the media crews and Roh's entourage, such as arranging for their hotels to be equipped with a press center and luncheon and banquet facilities, the ministry said. The team will stay in Pyongyang until the summit is over.
At the second-ever summit between the leaders of the Koreas, Roh is expected to discuss with Kim to accelerate economic cooperation and build a peace regime on the peninsula.
Roh's immediate predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, visited Pyongyang in 2000 for the first summit, which cleared the way for the construction of the Kaesong industrial complex and other projects aimed at inter-Korean reconciliation and economic cooperation.
