ID :
213119
Fri, 10/28/2011 - 05:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/213119
The shortlink copeid
Koreas hold talks on excavating ancient palace site in N. Korea
SEOUL (Yonhap) - Historians from the two Koreas were to meet Friday to discuss resuming the long-stalled joint excavation of an ancient royal palace site in the North.
The meeting in the North Korean border town of Kaesong represents Seoul's latest bid to increase nonpolitical contacts to help ease tensions over the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year.
"I am optimistic about the meeting" on how to unearth the palace ruins, Ha Il-sik, the chief delegate for the meeting, said before crossing the border.
The talks concern Manwoldae, the royal palace of the Goryeo Dynasty that ruled the Korean Peninsula from 918 to 1392. The site of Manwoldae is in present-day Kaesong.
Ha, a history professor at Seoul's Yonsei University and the head of a five-member delegation, said the North has always reacted positively to joint research and excavation of the site in Kaesong.
He also voiced hope that the excavation project would not be affected by political tensions between the rival Koreas.
The two sides launched the project in 2007, but South Korea halted it last year as part of its sanctions against Pyongyang for the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on the North.
The North has denied involvement in the sinking that killed 46 South Korean sailors as well as the shelling of a South Korean border island last November that killed four more people.
Kaesong served as the capital for most of Goryeo's reign. Now it is home to an industrial complex run by both Koreas.
More than 47,000 North Koreans work for South Korean firms in the Kaesong complex to produce clothes, utensils, watches and other goods. The project serves as a key legitimate cash cow for the impoverished communist country.
The meeting in the North Korean border town of Kaesong represents Seoul's latest bid to increase nonpolitical contacts to help ease tensions over the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year.
"I am optimistic about the meeting" on how to unearth the palace ruins, Ha Il-sik, the chief delegate for the meeting, said before crossing the border.
The talks concern Manwoldae, the royal palace of the Goryeo Dynasty that ruled the Korean Peninsula from 918 to 1392. The site of Manwoldae is in present-day Kaesong.
Ha, a history professor at Seoul's Yonsei University and the head of a five-member delegation, said the North has always reacted positively to joint research and excavation of the site in Kaesong.
He also voiced hope that the excavation project would not be affected by political tensions between the rival Koreas.
The two sides launched the project in 2007, but South Korea halted it last year as part of its sanctions against Pyongyang for the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on the North.
The North has denied involvement in the sinking that killed 46 South Korean sailors as well as the shelling of a South Korean border island last November that killed four more people.
Kaesong served as the capital for most of Goryeo's reign. Now it is home to an industrial complex run by both Koreas.
More than 47,000 North Koreans work for South Korean firms in the Kaesong complex to produce clothes, utensils, watches and other goods. The project serves as a key legitimate cash cow for the impoverished communist country.
