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South Korea Consoles the Victims of Ryongchon Explosion, while North Korea Expresses Gratitude for Support

South Korea Consoles the Victims of Ryongchon Explosion, while North Korea Expresses Gratitude for Support

Posted May. 04, 2004 22:40,   

한국어

South and North Korea will hold the first general meeting of the fourteenth round of Ministerial Talks at a conference hall on the second floor of the Korea Hotel in Pyongyang at 10 a.m. on May 5. They plan to discuss current issues such as North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs, a concrete date for general-level talks between the two countries, and the tenth cross-border family reunion.

The South Korean delegation will stress that practical progress should be made in the third round of the six-nation talks, slated for the latter part of next month, and will propose the tenth cross-border family reunion on the anniversary of the June 15 South-North Summit Talks.

The forty-seven members of the South Korean delegation, headed by Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun, arrived in Pyongyang on a chartered Asiana Airline airplane on May 4.

The four members of the North Korean delegation, including deputy Choi Young-keun, welcomed the South Korean delegation at the Sunan airport. North Korean Cabinet Minister Kwon Ho-ung, new head of the North Korean delegation, welcomed the South delegation at the front gate of the Korea Hotel, meeting and lodging place for the South delegation.

Minister Jeong exchanged pleasantries for about ten minutes with his Northern counterpart Kwon Ho-ung, at room six on the second floor of the Korea Hotel. Jeong said, “I pray for the many souls of those who died at the Ryongchon train station blast. I offer sincere, comforting words to those who were injured or rendered homeless on behalf of the government and the people of the South.”

In response, the North Korean delegation head Kwon replied, “I am very grateful for the whole-hearted generous support of the people of all social standings in the South. Two Koreas helped each other when one was in trouble. The mutual aid is a good and beautiful custom particular to our people.”

Both delegations attended a dinner reception hosted by the North Korean Prime Minster Park Bong-joo at the People’s Cultural Palace in Pyongyang this evening.



Jung-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com