Military officers from South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) met in a border village yesterday and agreed to resume the dismantling of border propaganda facilities.

South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed yesterday to resume the stalled dismantling of propaganda facilities along their land border from next week, according to a news release from South Korea's Ministry of National Defense.

Delegations led by South Korea's Moon Seong-mook and the DPRK’s Yu Young Cheol met in the border village of Panmunjom and agreed to recommence the third stage of the facilities’ removal on July 25, to be completed by August 13.

The one-day military talks also resulted in an agreement to open liaison offices on August 13 as part of efforts to prevent accidental armed clashes in the Yellow Sea, the release said, adding that military hotlines will also be established and a test call conducted on August 10.

The meeting failed to set the date for the third round of general-level talks, the last of which took place in June 2004, but agreed to hold more working-level talks on August 12 to discuss the issue. 

At the latest round of ministerial talks held in Seoul in late June, the two sides agreed to hold general-level military talks at Paekdu Mountain, the DPRK’s highest peak, in future.

At previous general-level talks, they agreed on a package of tension-easing measures such as the establishment of hotlines between their navies and the dismantling of border propaganda facilities.

However, the dismantling was halted several weeks after completing work in the western and central sections of the land border.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2005)