South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun left Pyongyang on Thursday after meeting top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Il, for summit talks focused on promoting peace and cooperation on the Korean Peninsula.
DPRK top legislator Kim Yong Nam and other officials saw Roh off at a farewell ceremony, where thousands of local residents, many in traditional costume, waved flowers and cheered as Roh's motorcade left at around 5:00 p.m. (0800 GMT).
Roh, who traveled overland to Pyongyang for a three-day visit, will stop off to visit an inter-Korean industrial complex in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong on his way back to Seoul.
Earlier in the day, Roh and Kim Jong Il issued a joint declaration, after two rounds of talks on Wednesday, reaffirming their commitment to promoting peace on the peninsula and boosting economic cooperation between the two sides.
The eight-point declaration calls for ending military hostilities between the two sides and a three- or four-party summit on a permanent peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula.
The two sides of the Korea Peninsular are still technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
According to the document, South Korea and the DPRK agreed to frequently hold summit talks, expand cross-border economic cooperation projects, work jointly to support the agreements reached at the Six-Party Talks and create a joint fishing zone in the West Sea (Yellow Sea).
They have also agreed to hold talks between their prime ministers in Seoul in November, the declaration said.
The defense ministers of the two sides will hold a meeting next month to discuss peace in the West Sea, it said.
A direct air route between Seoul and the DPRK's Mt. Paektu will be opened, said the document.
The two sides will work together to formally operate railways linking South Korea and the DPRK to allow South Korea's cheering squad to travel by train to Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games, it said.
They have agreed to construct joint shipbuilding complexes in Anbyeon and Nampo, and open a cross-border cargo railway, the declaration said.
Roh was greeted by Kim at a festive ceremony upon arrival on Tuesday.
The summit was the second of its kind since the peninsula was divided more than half a century ago. Roh's predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, traveled to the DPRK for the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000.
Source: Xinhua
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