Busy day on tap for negotiators from 2 Koreas on road and rail

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Busy day on tap for negotiators from 2 Koreas on road and rail

Two sets of meetings await the two Koreas Saturday to restore the cross-border rail and road links. South and North Korean military authorities will meet at the truce village of Panmunjeom Saturday to work out safeguards for works inside the demilitarized zone along the border; government officials will hold working-level talks to hammer out details of the railroad and highway projects at the North's Mount Geumgang.

"Inter-Korean military talks will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning," a South Korean National Defense spokesman said Friday. The meeting, originally scheduled to begin Friday, was postponed by a day after the North sent a telephone message requesting a delay, citing administrative reasons.

The two sides are expected to reconfirm the terms of a previous military agreement on safety assurance measures to restore the Gyeongui railroad and highway inside the DMZ. The 41-point agreement, reached in February last year, outlined details of works to be done inside the heavily-mined buffer zone along the border, including establishment of communication network between the two Koreas' working-level military officials and control of administrative zones. The two Koreas agreed at last month's economic talks to hold ground-breaking ceremonies on Wednesday to build rail and road links.

Drafts of another agreement for the East Coast Line, the equivalent to the military assurance pact for the Gyeongui Line, will be exchanged and discussed at Saturday's talks.

Brigadier General Kim Kyong-duck, deputy director of arms control at the National Defense Ministry, will led the South Korean delegation; Ryu Yong-chul, deputy director of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces, will represent North Korea.

The South Korean government delegation for the working-level talks to discuss rail and road links arrived at the North's mountain resort Friday, but the official talks begin Saturday.

The two Koreas are expected to discuss precise link points for the railroads and roads and their design.

by Kim Min-seok

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