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FACTBOX: Koreas pledge peace and prosperity
SEOUL (Reuters) - The leaders of North and South Korea pledged on Thursday to seek talks with China and the United States to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War and resume freight train services severed during the war.
Following are some of the points agreed between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at the end of only the second summit between the divided Koreas.
PERMANENT PEACE
- The two leaders pledged to seek summit talks somewhere near the Korean peninsula with China and the United States to formally declare the Korean War over.
The armistice that suspended the war was signed by China, the North and U.S.-led United Nations forces, but not by South Korea.
- The two sides reaffirmed pledges of non-aggression.
HIGH-LEVEL TALKS
- The two states will hold a meeting of defense ministers in November to discuss ways to prevent armed clashes. The prime ministers from the two sides will meet in November in Seoul to discuss the implementation of Thursday's agreement.
- The leaders of the two states will meet frequently to discuss any pending issues. The first summit was held in 2000.
ECONOMIC COOPERATION
- The North and South will establish a special district in the North Korean west-coast port city of Haeju and set up a regular maritime transport service with the South and a joint fishing ground.
- The two sides will step up expansion of the Kaesong industrial park just north of the heavily armed border where 44 South Korean firms are in operation now using cheap North Korean labor and real estate.
TRAINS AND HIGHWAY
- The leaders called for the resumption of regular freight train services between the South Korean border down of Munsan and Kaesong.
- The two states will repair the highway joining the North Korean capital and Kaesong and refurbish the railway between Kaesong and Sinuiju on the North's border with China.
TOURISM AND AIR TRAVEL
- The two sides will operate direct tour flights between Seoul and Mount Paektu on the North Korean border with China.
JOINT OLYMPIC CHEERING SQUAD
- North and South Korea will send a joint cheering squad to the 2008 Summer Olympic games by train joining Seoul and Sinuiju in its inaugural run.
(Source: South Korean Government Information Agency)
