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Seoul: The prime ministers of North and South Korea met yesterday for the first time in 15 years, hoping to extend the detente fostered by the second-ever summit of their leaders last month with new South Korean investment in the impoverished North.
North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong-il said after arriving in Seoul on a direct flight from Pyongyang that he thought the three days of talks would "go well in a warm atmosphere" based on his welcome.
The two sides last held prime ministerial talks in 1992 that were suspended amid the first crisis over the North's nuclear weapons programme.
Kim ranks below the top members of the North's ruling elite: leader Kim Jong-il and the country's No 2 official Kim Yong-nam.
Agreement
He is meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is the deputy of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.
This week's talks are aimed at fleshing out an agreement that Roh and the North Korean leader signed at their October summit in Pyongyang - only the second such meeting since the Korean peninsula was divided more than half a century ago.
That accord calls for greater peace and economic cooperation across the world's most heavily fortified border.
Praising that agreement as a big step toward reconciliation, the North Korean delegation stressed yesterday the importance of taking action.
"No matter how good an agreement is, it ends up an empty piece of paper unless carried out," the North Koreans said in an arrival statement.
The South's Han agreed in comments at the start of the meetings. "We have to reach a very specific agreement at these talks and put it into action," he said.
International efforts
"I totally agree with your remark," Kim replied.
"What's important is to have a good result, rather than sitting here and squabbling." Cheon Ho-seon, South Korea's presidential spokesman, said the talks demonstrate the two sides are firmly committed to carrying out the summit agreement.
"If we go up the stairs step-by-step like this, we will reach the top one day," Cheon said.
The North-South talks come amid progress in international efforts to rid North Korea of its nuclear programs, with the communist nation beginning to disable its sole operational nuclear reactor recently under a deal with the US, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. Seoul believes that promoting reconciliation with Pyongyang would facilitate resolution of the nuclear dispute.
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