Advance party for Kaesong talks crosses demilitarized zone

South Korea's advance party for working-level government talks aimed at normalizing the inter-Korean industrial complex crossed the demarcation line that separates the two Koreas on Tuesday, the government said.

The 25-member team of eight government officials and 17 engineers crossed the demilitarized zone into North Korea at 8:30 a.m. and headed for Kaesong. The team will help set up the venue and check communication and power lines for the Wednesday talks, as well as other infrastructure facilities at the Kaesong Industrial Complex that have been idle for three months.

The talks are a follow-up to a meeting held at the neutral border town of Panmunjom over the weekend where the two sides agreed in principle to reopen the suspended complex.

The arrival of the advance party marks the first time in over two months that South Korean nationals have stepped foot in the industrial zone.

All operations at the complex, which first churned out products in late 2004, came to a screeching halt on April 9 when the North ordered all of its laborers not to report for work amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Seoul countered by pulling all of its personnel on May 3.

Related to the normalization of the plant, Seoul made clear that safeguards are needed to ensure the North cannot unilaterally shut down operations and bar movement in and out of Kaesong in the future.

"Seoul will not accept circumstances reverting back to the way they were before the crisis," said unification ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk.

He added that the running of the complex must meet international standards, hinting that foreign companies should be invited to build factories at the plant. Such a move could make it harder for the North to take action to hinder operations at the complex. (Yonhap News)