North Korea on Saturday proposed inter-Korean military talks to follow up an agreement to re-link a severed railway line across the border, defense ministry officials here said.
The proposal dispelled concern Pyongyang might be shunning agreed military talks with the South while seeking to pursue only economic interest and aid from Seoul.
Colonel Yu Yong-Chol, head of the North's military mission at Panmunjom, said in a message telephoned to the South talks could take place on Tuesday on the North Korean side of the border village.
Panmunjom is the venue where an armistice was signed at the end of Korean War in 1953, and has subsequently served as the only point of contact between the two rivals.
"We propose working-level military talks to discuss how to ... secure the soldiers' safety who will be mobilized in reconnecting the Kyongui Railway," Colonel Yu said.
He said an unidentified brigadier general would lead a six-member North Korean delegation to the talks.
A South Korean defense ministry official said the ministry would consult with other government agencies before it gave its answer to the proposal.
The two Koreas agreed to restore railway and road links following a landmark inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in June.
They also agreed on economic exchanges and reunions of families separated by the division of the peninsula.
Red Cross officials of the two sides on Saturday were to exchange the lists of names of relatives who wanted to see their long-lost loved ones -- SEOUL (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
