Pyongyang is expected to accept Seoul's proposals for talks on economic issues next year, the South Korean Ministry of Unification said Friday.
"Pyongyang is likely to accept proposals for inter-Korean dialogue next year while maintaining its reconciliatory approach to Seoul," the ministry said in a report entitled "Evaluation of Development in North Korea in 2001 and Prospects for 2002."
Government-level talks to on food and fertilizer aid and the Mountain Kumgang tourist project are expected to resume next year, said the ministry.
However, the ministry pointed out that talks on economic cooperation projects such as the construction of an industrial complex in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) city of Kaesong and reconnection of the inter-Korean railway will depend on the outcome of inter-Korean military talks.
(People's Daily December 29, 2001)
