S Korea, DPRK meet over joint factory park
21:11, 11 June 2009
SEOUL. June 11. KAZINFORM. The government-level talks between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), held at the Kaesong Joint Industrial Complex, ended on Thursday amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
The two sides met twice in the day, for 50 minutes in the morning and 40 minutes in the afternoon, following up the talks they had in April.
"The talks started at 10:40 a.m. (0140 GMT)," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said, adding that customs process for the South Korean delegation delayed the talks which were scheduled to start at 10 a.m. (0100 GMT).
Before the South Korean delegation left for Kaesong, Kim Young-tak, head of the delegation, said the main focus of the South Korean side is the release of the South Korean worker, who has been detained in the DPRK since March for "publicly denouncing the regime."
The Kaesong complex, where 106 South Korean companies operate with some 40,000 North Korean workers, makes a variety of products, from electronics and watches to shoes and utensils. The park, located in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, was jointly set up as a reconciliation project of the two sides; Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.