Seoul Seeks Talks on Peace Zone in December

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

South Korea is seeking to hold talks with North Korea in December on ways to develop the area around the disputed western maritime border into a ``peace zone'' for South Korea's big-budget investment projects, the Ministry of Unification said Monday.

President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed on the plan during their summit talks in Pyongyang earlier this month as part of efforts to reduce cross-border military tensions and help the North's sagging economy.

The government plans to propose establishing a joint committee for the so-called special economic cooperation zone in the West Sea at the upcoming talks between the prime ministers of the two Koreas that could be held as early as next month, Vice Unification Minister Lee Kwan-se said.

The decision was made at the first meeting of a government task force on implementing agreements at the 2007 South-North Korean Summit, he said. The task force includes representatives from Cheong Wa Dae, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

After the prime ministerial meeting, the defense ministers from the two Koreas are scheduled to meet in Pyongyang to discuss the security guarantee for the project, ministry officials said.

Under the plan, a few joint fishing areas will be designated for private vessels from both Koreas, and a South Korean-backed special industrial complex is to be built in the area.

The plan comes amid a renewed dispute over the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which was drawn at the end of the three-year Korean War in 1953 by the U.S.-led United Nations Command.

President Roh Moo-hyun last week claimed it is misleading to call the NLL a border, inviting fierce criticism from conservative forces.

The line has served as the de facto border, but Pyongyang demands the line be nullified and redrawn.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn
Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn