By Kim Yoo-chul
The two Koreas met Monday to discuss ways to modernize cross-border roads along the eastern coast, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry.
The ministry said a second meeting of joint field research groups between the two Koreas was held at the inter-Korean liaison office in the North's border city of Gaeseong.
Five South Korean representatives led by an assistant minister of land, infrastructure and transport Paek Seung-geun were at the meeting, while the North sent eight representatives. The meeting started at around 10 a.m., according to the unification ministry.
“The main topic discussed was how to fix the specifics for a joint field inspection of one of the main cross-border roads along the eastern coast of North Korea― the Goseong-Wonsan route,” said the official.
The discussion came a few months after the Koreas completed preliminary joint research on the Gaeseong-Pyongyang route as the first step toward road modernization. The route is said to have already been undergoing a “partial renovation,” however, the construction for the modernization projects is subject to approval from the United Nations Command (UNC) if the South wants to supply vehicles and provides necessary logistics.
The two Koreas earlier agreed to work together on modernizing two main North Korean highways including the Gaeseong-Pyongyang route after they agreed to push ahead with a large-scale renovation and modernization of the North's highways and to conduct joint research into the plans.
The two Koreas had separately planned to conduct a joint survey of cross-border railway lines in the western region in late October; however, it has yet to begin as consultations with the United States have not been completed.
Monday's working-level talks apparently see the two Koreas continue the time-consuming process of implementing inter-Korean agreements first laid out in April's Panmunjeom Declaration. The non-binding agreement included plans to take “practical steps towards the connection and modernization of the railways and roads on the eastern transportation corridor as well as between Seoul and Sinuiju” in the northwest corner of North Korea.