The Republic of Korea's (ROK) president and his wife sported watches made in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for their trip to Pyongyang in a gesture of reconciliation for the second-ever summit of the divided Koreas.
The time pieces - produced at an industrial complex in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong - are seen as a symbol of ROK President Roh Moo-hyun's intention to expand inter-Korean economic cooperation and eventually build an economic community between the rival states.
"It is a symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation and appears to demonstrate the will for common prosperity" of the two Koreas, Kim Jong-sup, deputy presidential spokesman, told reporters.
Roh, who joined First Lady Kwon Yang-suk in wearing one of the watches, also brought nine more of them as gifts for leader Kim Jong-il and other officials, said Kim.
The sprawling Kaesong complex, jointly run by the two Koreas, combines ROK technology and management expertise with cheap DPRK labor. Currently, 27 ROK companies operate factories there, employing about 18,000 DPRK workers, making watches, sneakers, clothing and other cheap consumer goods.
The price tag of the watch is 198,000 won ($217), more than three times the average monthly wage of the DPRK workers at Kaesong.
Stone monument
The ROK already has set up a stone monument to commemorate where its president crossed the frontier on foot to head to a summit with the DPRK leader.
Roh briefly walked across Military Demarcation Line, inside the 4-km-wide Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, yesterday before getting back in his car to head toward to Pyongyang for the meeting with Kim.
The inscription on the monument - which was handwritten by Roh and carved into the stone - marks the first-ever crossing of the frontier on foot by an ROK president.
The inscription reads: "The road to peace and prosperity."
Commemorative stamp
The ROK issued a commemorative stamp yesterday to mark the second inter-Korean summit, the Ministry of Information and Communication said.
The stamp, which has a face value of 250 won (about 27 US cents), was available at post offices across the country from yesterday, the ministry was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.
The stamp features a dove flying in the sky over the Korean Peninsula, symbolizing peace and prosperity on the peninsula and the world.
A total of 1.6 million of the stamps were issued, said the ministry.
Armored car
Roh rode in a Mercedes Benz S600 Guard armored vehicle as he traveled to the DPRK for the summit. The ROK also has a bulletproof BMW 760Li sedan and Hyundai luxury sedan for the president's official use, according to ROK media. The S600 Guard features a high level of protection against firearms, grenade shrapnel and other explosive devices as well as tires that can still work even if punctured.
Removal from terror list
A six-nation draft plan on disabling the DPRK's nuclear facilities contains details on when Pyongyang will be taken off the US list of countries that sponsor terrorism, the DPRK's envoy said yesterday.
Kim Kye-gwan, the DPRK's chief negotiator, told reporters that a time frame was shown in the draft, which was circulated last week after four days of talks involving the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia.
"If it is not shown, we can't call it a joint document," Kim told reporters at Beijing's airport without elaborating.
The six negotiators said on Sunday that their governments would take two days to review the draft. No details have been released and it wasn't clear what the next step would be.
Source: China Daily/agencies
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