North Korea and China made headway in drawing up plans to jointly develop two special economic zones in the North, Pyongyang's media said Wednesday.
A North Korean delegation, led by Jang Song-thaek, the uncle and key guardian of leader Kim Jong-un, held talks in Beijing with Chinese officials earlier this week on joint development of Rason, a port on the North's northeast coast, and Hwanggumphyong-Wihwa, an island on the border with China.
The one-day meeting was called by the North-China Joint Guidance Committee set up to handle joint development of the two special economic zones. It was the third of its kind since last year and the first since the North's new leader, Kim Jong-un, officially took power.
According to a report by the North's Korean Central News Agency, a master plan was mapped out and progress was made in such areas as tourism and agricultural cooperation, while a deal was reached on the provision of electricity from China.
The KCNA said reconstruction of ports and railways were making fast progress at Rason that could facilitate development of the economic region in the Northeastern tip of the communist country.
In the Hwanggumphyong-Wihwa island Economic Zone on the west coast at the mouth of the Yalu River, the news outlet claimed favorable conditions were created for kicking off the project that includes the fixing of the spot for border passage. It said other agreements were reached to facilitate actual development.
The report said the latest meeting stressed the need to quickly start off the Hwanggumphyong-Wihwa development plan to show the world the will of both sides to push forward the project.
"Both sides reaffirmed that it plays an important role in consolidating and developing the traditional relations of DPRK-China friendship to invariably implement the historic agreement on the joint development and management of the two economic zones reached between the top leaders of the two countries in line with mutual interests," the KCNA said.
The DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The fourth guidance committee meeting will be held in the first half of 2013 in the North Korean capital, it said. (Yonhap)