SEOUL — South Korean Prime Minister Kang Young Hoon proposed direct trade with North Korea and a visitor exchange involving the elderly today on the eve of the second round of talks with his northern counterpart, Yon Hyong Muk.
Accompanied by six other delegates, 33 support personnel and a 50-member official press corps, Kang arrived in Pyongyang at about 1:20 p.m. on the first trip to North Korea by a South Korean prime minister.
Kang said on arrival that it is deplorable and frustrating that only South and North Korea are left split while other divided nations of the world are united, but the meetings were a positive step toward reunification.
"Differences in ideology and system between the two parts of Korea must no longer form a barrier dividing the people. The first thing to do to demolish the barrier of national division and become one as soon as possible is to restore Korean ethnic community," he said.
