Three years ago, when Kim Dae-jung laid his feet on the ground of Pyongyang and shook hands with Kim Jong IL, he might not imagine the inter-Korean relations could be developed so rapidly and deeply.

The June 15 South-North Joint Declaration, signed by the two leaders for inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation in various aspects, laid a great foundation.

Because of the summit and the "Sunshine Policy" on the DPRK, Kim Dae-jung was awarded the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize. Since then the inter-Korean relations have been progressed considerably, regardless of difficulties.

The inter-Korean trade volume soared to US$640 million in 2002, 1.75 times of the volume in 2000.

Up to now, more than 540,000 South Korean people have visited the DPRK, among which some 320,000 have had their trips to the DPRK resort Mount Geumgang since the startup of inter-Korean reconciliation in 2000.

Moreover, 10 rounds of inter-Korean ministerial talks and five rounds of inter-Korean economic meetings have been held to outline the development of joint projects in the three-year period. Just on Saturday, the two countries symbolically laid two sects of railway tracks to re-link inter-Korean railways, which had been divided since the Korean War (1950-1953).

And the two sides plan to complete the whole work of re-construction of two sets of inter-Korean transportation corridors within this year, which will definitely boost their bilateral economic cooperation.

As an effort to enhance its investment environment, Pyongyang has designated Kaesong, a city just located north of demilitarized zone, as special economic zone and gave South Korean enterprises priority to build an industrial complex in the city. Now they are discussing details of the construction, and a ground-breaking ceremony of the industrial complex is hoped to be held as soon as possible.

Moreover, six rounds of reunions of separated families of the two countries have been organized in the three years. People shed joyful tears when they reunited with their relatives for the first time since the end of the Korean War. Now Seoul and Pyongyang are busy preparing a new round of family reunions to be held later this month.

The two countries have also made successfully cooperation in the sports field. They jointly attended entrance ceremony in the 2000 Olympic Games, and DPRK athletes historically participated in the 14th Asian Games held in South Korea.

Even when some unhappy things broke out during the three years, like the skirmish between the two navies in the sea and the nuclear issue, South Korean and the DPRK pushed their exchanges continually.

The historic "two Kims" summit in June 2000 is remembered by the world and by the people of the two countries. They hope the reconciliation procession would continue and reunification would be finally realized independently.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2003)