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North Korea: South Korea

Volume 460: debated on Monday 21 May 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment she has made of progress in relations between North and South Korea. (138248)

The inter-Korean relationship looks to be back on track. The 20th Inter-Korean Ministerial Talks (IKMT) took place in Pyongyang on 27 February to 2 March for the first time since July 2006. The 13th round of Inter-Korean Economic Co-operation Promotion Talks also took place in Pyongyang on 18-22 April, face-to-face reunions between separated family members were held on 9 May and the next round of IKMT has been scheduled to take place this month. South Korea has said that they will be looking to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to take steps in the coming months to start implementing the 13 February Agreement and made clear that the provision of rice aid will be dependent upon this. Further progress in relations was demonstrated on 17 May when railway tests were successfully conducted between North and South Korea—this was the first time trains had operated between the two Koreas for 50 years.

I raised the UK’s commitment to the process of improving inter-Korean relations during my meeting with the DPRK ambassador on 17 May.