North Korea on Thursday accepted South Korea's proposal to hold a new round of economic talks in the southern island of Jeju early next month, the Unification Ministry said.
Pyongyang sent a telegram agreeing to the proposal to hold the 12th round of economic talks in Jeju, but requested a later date, said Yang Chang-seok, a spokesman of the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs.
"To our proposal made on the 22nd (Monday) to hold the talks between June 1 and 4 on Jeju Island, the North basically agreed but suggested a later date," he said.
Pyongyang wants to meet from June 3-6, he said.
The North's response seemed to demonstrate its intention to proceed with economic cooperation despite some tension in inter-Korean relations following the last-minute cancellation of trial runs along border-crossing railway lines that were reconnected in December.
In a meeting of the joint economic cooperation committee on May 13, the Koreas agreed to test the railways Thursday.
Pyongyang, however, called off the scheduled runs on Wednesday, citing the lack of an agreement between the countries' militaries to guarantee the safety of people taking part in the trial runs, as well as what it called "unstable conditions" in the South.
All inter-Korean rail links were severed during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Seoul, May 25 (Yonhap News)
North Korea accepts South's proposal to hold economic talks |
