S.Korea, DPRK agree to resume border propaganda facility removal
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-07-20 19:58

South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed Wednesday to resume stalled work of dismantling propaganda facilities along their land border from next week.

"The two sides agree to resume the third stage of propaganda facility removal on July 25 and complete the work by Aug. 13," said a news release issued by South Korea's Ministry of National Defense.

Military officers to working-level inter-Korean military talks also agreed to open liaison offices in their own side on Aug.13 as part of the efforts to prevent accidental armed clashes in the Yellow Sea, the release said.

The Northern Limit Line (NLL) is a controversial sea border of the two countries in the Yellow Sea, which is viewed by South Korea as the de facto border line, but has not been accepted by the DPRK.

The navies of the two countries clashed in 2002 and 1999 around the disputed sea border, both of which led to severe casualties of the two sides.

The release also added the two sides will set up military hotlines and conduct a test call on Aug. 10.

The one-day working level contact was held at the border village of Panmunjom. Col. Moon Seong-mook headed a three-member South Korean delegation to Wednesday's meeting, while the DPRK's team was led by Col. Yu Young Cheol.

Wednesday's meeting failed to set the date for the third round of inter-Korean general-level meeting, but agreed to hold another working-level talks on Aug. 12 to discuss the issue, the release said.

In the latest round of inter-Korean ministerial talks held in late June in Seoul, the two sides agreed to resume general-level military talks at the DPRK's highest Paekdu mountain in future.

The inter-Korean general-grade talks have been stalled since the two sides held the second session in June last year.

In their two previous general-level talks, South Korea and the DPRK agreed on a package of tension-easing measures such as the establishment of hotlines between their navies and the dismantlement of border propaganda facilities.

The two sides, however, halted the dismantling of border propaganda facilities several weeks after completing work in the western and central sections of the land border.

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