Third inter-Korean ministerial talks due Wed.

The third round of South-North Korean ministerial talks will be held at Hotel Lotte in Seogwipo, Jeju Island Sept. 27-30 with the primary goal of making a comprehensive assessment of developments in the implementation of the June 15 Inter-Korean Summit Declaration.

At the forthcoming meeting, the two Koreas will conduct an overall evaluation of the achievements made in bilateral talks at various levels since the Pyongyang summit, including the two rounds of ministerial talks, Red Cross talks, the dispatch of a North Korean special envoy to Seoul and the defense ministers' talks. At the same time, the two sides will review the pace of progress in the development of inter-Korean relations and work out measures for future exchange and cooperation.

Related officials said Tuesday that the government would not be in a hurry to improve relations with the North but would explore ways of promoting better ties in a secure manner. In the future, the inter-ministerial talks will be operated as a central organ to control all levels of current dialogue between the two Koreas, they said. Accordingly, the coming ministerial talks will become a watershed in reaching crucial accords on the systematization of the mutual talks and the establishment of working-level committees to carry the inter-Korean summit agreements.

Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu, chief delegate to the talks, and his North Korean counterpart, Jon Kum-Jin, are scheduled to hold their second round of talks Sept. 28-29 and to pay a courtesy call on President Kim Dae-Jung at Chong Wa Dae Sept. 30

The North Korean side sent a telephone message to Minister Park Tuesday and notified him of the replacement of one of its delegates, Vice Culture Minister Kim Yong-Sin, with Ho Su-Rim, president of the National Economic Cooperation Federation. The North Korean delegation is scheduled to arrive at Kimpo International Airport at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow via China Airlines flight CA-123 from Beijing and will fly directly to Jeju Airport via Asiana Airlines.