By Kim Tae-gyu
The two Koreas have agreed to hold working-level talks at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Saturday, to discuss suspended operations at the inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong, the Ministry of Unification said Thursday.
"The North informed us at around 8:35 p.m. that the talks can be held on the North's side of Panmunjeom at 10 a.m. Saturday. And we accepted it," a ministry official said.
The two sides will exchange lists of the three-member delegations Friday, he added.
The agreement came months after the North stopped operations at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the last symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation, by pulling out all of its 53,000 workers employed by 123 South Korean companies.
The suspension came amid escalating tension on the peninsula following Pyongyang's third nuclear test in February and the resulting U.N. sanctions.
Last month, the two sides held working-level talks to discuss holding senior-level dialogue, but failed to narrow their differences over the status of the delegations' leaders.
Early Thursday, Seoul and Pyongyang were at loggerheads over the proposed talks with the South sticking to the principle that it would not accept the North's original offer to allow entrepreneurs' to visit the closed complex on Saturday.
Seoul maintained that government contact should precede any visit to Gaesong by South Korean businessmen.
The South has opposed the North's attempts to deal with inter-Korean topics via contacts with private players, as opposed to the government. It regarded the latter's green light on the Gaeseong visits as a similar maneuver.
Seoul has rejected Pyongyang's proposal of normalizing the complex through talks between South Korean companies there and the North.
"Instead of just returning to the past, we should make an advance in resuming the operations of the industrial park. We should not hurry and need to have a long-term vision," Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said.
A Cheong Wa Dae official concurred.
"The doors are always open for inter-Korean talks but we will stick to principles on North Korea policies. What is most significant is trust. If trust is not abided by, any attempts or steps can hardly succeed," he said.
He added that Park feels sorry for the businesspeople who have suffered greatly because of the closure of the complex but she doesn't think that the area can reopen without the North's pledges not to unilaterally suspend it.
The two Koreas have agreed to hold working-level talks at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Saturday, to discuss suspended operations at the inter-Korean industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong, the Ministry of Unification said Thursday.
"The North informed us at around 8:35 p.m. that the talks can be held on the North's side of Panmunjeom at 10 a.m. Saturday. And we accepted it," a ministry official said.
The two sides will exchange lists of the three-member delegations Friday, he added.
The agreement came months after the North stopped operations at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the last symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation, by pulling out all of its 53,000 workers employed by 123 South Korean companies.
The suspension came amid escalating tension on the peninsula following Pyongyang's third nuclear test in February and the resulting U.N. sanctions.
Last month, the two sides held working-level talks to discuss holding senior-level dialogue, but failed to narrow their differences over the status of the delegations' leaders.
Early Thursday, Seoul and Pyongyang were at loggerheads over the proposed talks with the South sticking to the principle that it would not accept the North's original offer to allow entrepreneurs' to visit the closed complex on Saturday.
Seoul maintained that government contact should precede any visit to Gaesong by South Korean businessmen.
The South has opposed the North's attempts to deal with inter-Korean topics via contacts with private players, as opposed to the government. It regarded the latter's green light on the Gaeseong visits as a similar maneuver.
Seoul has rejected Pyongyang's proposal of normalizing the complex through talks between South Korean companies there and the North.
"Instead of just returning to the past, we should make an advance in resuming the operations of the industrial park. We should not hurry and need to have a long-term vision," Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said.
A Cheong Wa Dae official concurred.
"The doors are always open for inter-Korean talks but we will stick to principles on North Korea policies. What is most significant is trust. If trust is not abided by, any attempts or steps can hardly succeed," he said.
He added that Park feels sorry for the businesspeople who have suffered greatly because of the closure of the complex but she doesn't think that the area can reopen without the North's pledges not to unilaterally suspend it.
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