South-North follow-up talks in works

The follow-up meeting of South and North Koreans officials as a result of the June 15 joint communiqué issued after the South-North Korean summit is expected to be held in Seoul from July 27 through 29.

The Seoul government plans to make contact between liaison officials of the South and the North in Panmunjom on July 19 at the earliest to make a proposal for the projected meeting of authorities.

A government official said July 18 that an organizing body for the meeting, which has been under discussion for about a month since the Pyongyang summit, is about to be completed, adding that it would be desirable to hold the meeting sometime next week.

The follow-up talk, the first bilateral meeting after the June summit, will be attended by ministerial-level officials from both South and North Korea. They are expected to discuss a comprehensive framework for social and cultural exchanges, as well as matters concerning South-North economic cooperation.

The South Korean delegation is likely to be headed by Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu, while Kim Yong-Soon, the Labor Party`s secretary on South Korean affairs, or Song Ho-Kyung, vice chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Commission, is expected to lead the North Korean delegation.