The top leaders of the south and north of the Korean Peninsula will seek substantial progress in peace and bilateral economic cooperation at an upcoming summit slated for Oct. 2-4 in Pyongyang, analysts here said.
The South Korean government announced President Roh Moo-hyun will walk across the Military Demarcations Line dividing the Korean Peninsula on his way to Pyongyang, a move widely interpreted as a sign revealing Roh's will to make the visit a historic event.
"We are confident to achieve a substantial leap in inter-Korean cooperation through the summit," South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung told a news conference here on Monday.
Roh and his counterpart of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Il are expected to discuss the establishment of a peace mechanism, economic cooperation and the denuclearization process on the peninsula.
Lee said the goal is made possible as the summit comes at a time of progress in the inter-Korean relations during the past seven years. The first inter-Korean summit, held in 2000, resulted in a wide range of cooperation between the two countries.
"In the future, the dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang should be institutionalized and cover a wider scope in an effort to facilitate more stable inter-Korean ties," the minister said.
The south and the north sides of the Korean peninsular, which remained in a state of cold war and had no official channel of dialogue before 2000, have already carried out 195 official negotiations since the first summit.
Although peace is still on the top agenda of the summit, some analysts noticed signs for the south side to shift from political issues to economic cooperation.
Ahn Yin-hay, a professor at the Korean University, told Xinhua that "South Korea now pays more attention to mutually beneficial economic cooperation."
She said bilateral economic cooperation will be expanded to the DPRK's infrastructure facilities, such as the traffic and electronic systems.
South Korea's leading entrepreneurs, including Hyundai Motor's President Chung Moon-koo, will accompany Roh's visit to Pyongyang and hold dialogue with the DPRK officials.
"South Korea's auto and ship-building industries have advantages in technology and management. The north side has well-organized labor forces." Ahn said.
"If the two sides can combine their advantages in auto industry or ship-building industry, it will be a good model for mutually beneficial economic cooperation," she added.
Source: Xinhua
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