By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

South Korean small- and medium-sized companies will be able to move into an inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, North Korea next year, two years ahead of schedule.

The complex will be as large as 1 million pyong (3.3 million square meters). Previously, the two Koreas targeted 2007 for the opening date.

In their eighth inter-Korean economic cooperation talks, which ended in Seoul on Friday, the two Koreas also agreed to finish a 10,000-pyong model program inside the Kaesong complex by June to invite some Korean firms to set up business there.

The agreement between Seoul and Pyongyang marked the first time the two nations have reached a consensus on the timeframe of operations by South Korean companies in the 3.3-million-square-meter complex project.

In their seven-point joint statement, the South agreed to provide electricity and communications on a commercial basis to ensure smooth production by southern firms.

The two sides also agreed to establish a liaison office for direct bilateral trade at the envisioned industrial complex in Kaesong within the first half of this year.

South and North Korea will start pilot operations of two cross-border railroads, while completing the pavement of western and eastern cross-border roads at an early date.

The two sides failed to fix the date for the pavement of the inter-Korean vehicular roads, as the North said technical problems would prevent it from completing its portion of road construction within the first half of this year, a timeline proposed by South’s chief delegate Kim Gwang-lim.

In an attempt to establish a joint flood prevention system for the Imjin River, which runs through the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, the nations will conduct field research starting next month. The two sides also agreed to exchange economic delegations at an early date.

The two parties had to work overnight to iron out differences on a wide range of issues in a meeting that marks the eighth of its kind since the landmark 2000 inter-Korean summit.

Another round of inter-Korean economic talks will be held from June 2 to 5 in Pyongyang.

Wrapping up its four-day visit, the 27-member North Korean delegation, led by North chief delegate Choe Yong-gon, left Incheon International Airport for Pyongyang via Beijing.

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr