South, North military commission discuss railway restoration plan

South and North Korea held their first working-level military commission talks Tuesday at North's Tongilgak pavilion in the truce village of Panmunjom. The two sides discussed ways to militarily guarantee the construction of the Kyongui Railway and an adjacent highway. The railway linking construction spans from Seoul and Kaesung.

They also exchanged their respective plans for the projects and agreed on the establishment and operation of a joint management area in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

The Seoul side delivered to the North draft joint regulations to address potential disputes that might arise in the course of construction work, Yoon Il-Young, spokesman of the Defense Ministry, said. The South and North Korea tentatively agreed to hold the second round of working-level talks Dec. 5 at the South's Freedom House in the border village.

Earlier, Seoul asked Pyongyang to hold the second round of inter-Korean defense ministers' talks as soon as possible, since the North delayed the talks originally scheduled for the middle of November. But the North responded that the defense talks would be held at an appropriate time, after working-level negotiations have made considerable progress.

The Tuesday meeting, held from 11 a. m. to 12:50 p.m., was attended by the Army Brig. Gen. Kim Kyong-Duk, deputy director of the ministry's Arms Control Bureau, and his Pyongyang counterpart, Col. Yu Yong-Chol of the North Korean People's Army.