South Korea, Japan Sign Information Technology Accord

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South Korea, Japan Sign Information Technology Accord

President Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Saturday signed an information technology accord to foster IT industries in the two countries.

The nine-point accord, "Japan-South Korea IT Cooperation Initiatives," will call on the two countries to work together to promote online business and exchange IT engineers.

The two leaders also agreed to hold a business forum to speed up conclusion of a free trade agreement between the two countries. Negotiations are under way on a free trade accord but differences remain over the agricultural and labor clauses.

Kim and Mori, signed the accord in Atami, a spa resort city 100-km southwest of Tokyo.

The President also briefed Mori on recent developments in inter-Korean relations, and pledged support for Japan's effort to normalize relations with the North.

"I will give all the cooperation I can for the normalization of North Korea-Japan relations," President Kim said. "I am confident that Prime Minister Mori will make an epochal achievement in normalizing and improving North Korea-Japan relations," he said.

According to Chong Wa Dae officials, President Kim hopes his efforts to persuade Japan and the United States to normalize relations with the North will further improve inter-Korean relations.

During a reception dinner Friday, President Kim said: "Improvements in South-North relations are linked to North Korea-Japan relations, and this in turn helps South and North Korea develop their relations in a stable manner." President Kim also said that South Korea alone could not help North Korea revive its economy, and that cooperation from Japan, the United States and the European Union is necessary.

Early this year Japan and North Korea restarted their negotiations to resume relations after a seven-year break. However, the two sides remain divided. The North is demanding compensation from Japan for its colonial occupation of Korea, while the Japanese want information about missing citizens they believe were kidnapped by North Korean agents.

by Kim Jin-kook

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