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Two Koreas agree to discuss normalization of Kaesong, Mont Kumgang tours

The meeting in Seoul will also discuss upcoming celebrations marking the signing of the inter-Korean declaration of June 15, 2000 and the joint statement of July 4, 1972

PYONGYANG, June 10 (Itar-Tass) - North Korea and South Korea have agreed to hold talks in Seoul on June 12-13 to discuss the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the restart of trips by South Korean nationals to the resort zone of Mount Kumgang, as well as the unification of families divided as a result of the Koran War of 1950-1953, says a press release circulated in Pyongyang on Monday after a working meeting of the two countries in the Demilitarized Zone.

The meeting in Seoul will also discuss upcoming celebrations marking the signing of the inter-Korean declaration of June 15, 2000 and the joint statement of July 4, 1972. Officials from the two countries will also discuss “visits, contacts and cooperation of nongovernmental organizations,” the press release said.

It said each delegation will consist of five people. North Korean representatives will arrive in Seoul using overland transport means. An agreement was reached to discuss working matters through the direct hotline in Panmunjom that was reopened on Friday.

South Korean and North Korean officials will hold this week a meeting to discuss the normalization of bilateral relations, the Yonhap news agency reports on Monday.

As a result of a working meeting in the truce village of Panmunjom, the two countries arrived at partial mutual understanding on a number of unsettled issues, a statement by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) said.

The two delegations held six 17-hour-long all in all talks on Sunday and on Monday morning. The upcoming talks are aimed at the settlement of some problems in relations between Seoul and Pyongyang that will help strengthen mutual trust on the Korean peninsula. The statement of the CPRK said the talks will begin on Wednesday, June 12, and will run for two days.

The sides have so far failed to reach a final agreement on the agenda and on who will lead the delegations. Official sources say these will be government talks.

All operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a rare symbol of cross-border cooperation, were stopped after Pyongyang ordered all of its South Korean workers not to report to work on April 9. Tours to Mount Kumgang were stopped in June 2008 after a North Korean guard shot dead a South Korean female tourist.

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