Koreas to break ground for railway, road connection late Nov. or early Dec.
The agreement was reached during high-level talks at the truce village of Panmunjom led by South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and his North Korean counterpart, Ri Son-gwon, Joint Press Corps-Yonhap reports.
"The South and the North will hold a ground-breaking ceremony for connecting and modernizing rail and road systems along the eastern and western regions either in late November or early December," they said in a joint press release issued after their hourslong discussion.
A detailed survey of the western railways will be carried out from late October and the railways along their eastern coast will be inspected from early November, according to the press release.
The move is a follow-up to deals their leaders made during a September summit in Pyongyang in which they agreed to expand cross-border exchanges and cooperation on various fronts. In particular, they said that a ground-breaking ceremony for the rail and road connection will be held within this year.
During Monday's talks, the two Koreas also agreed to hold Red Cross talks in November to discuss issues related to families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War and to arrange a general-level military meeting "as soon as possible" to exchange views on how to ease military tensions and form a joint military committee.
In addition, the two Koreas said that, as agreed upon by their leaders last month, they will have discussions in late October at their joint liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong over a bid to co-host the 2032 Summer Olympics and on a North Korean art troupe's performance in South Korea.
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