Koreas hold high-level talks to discuss implementation

South and North Korea held high-level talks on Friday to discuss follow-up measures on the summit agreement reached by their leaders last month.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon met with his North Korean counterpart, Ri Son-gwon, in Pyongyang on the sidelines of a joint event to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the 2007 inter-Korean summit.

The meeting was said to be aimed at discussing implementation of the agreement that South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached after their third meeting in September.

The leaders agreed to ease military tensions, expand cross-border exchanges and cooperation and work together in making the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons and nuclear threats.

Cho and Ri were expected to determine the schedules for subsequent inter-Korean meetings for each area of cooperation, but the results of the meeting were not disclosed to the public.

After ending the 50-minute meeting, Cho told reporters that the two sides "exchanged opinions on the direction (of inter-Korean cooperation)."

The two sides agreed to set up more meetings to discuss cooperation in sectors beyond railroad, forest and road building, Cho said.

"It is not too much to say that representatives from all ministries responsible for inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges gathered together (today)," Ri told reporters.

Cho is currently leading a delegation of around 160 South Koreans, including government officials, politicians, civic and religious leaders, taking part in the first-ever joint event in Pyongyang to commemorate the second inter-Korean summit in 2007.

The delegation is to return home on Saturday.