SEOUL, April 24 (UPI) -- North Korea has agreed to resolve the row over South Korean civilians abducted into the communist country, Seoul officials said Monday.
"The South and North agreed to work together to actually resolve the issue of people whose fate remains unknown since or during the (Korean) war," said an eight-point statement issued at the end of four-day high-level talks between the two Koreas held in Pyongyang.
The term "missing people" is an oblique reference to as many as 485 South Korean people abducted by the North, and more than 500 war prisoners from the 1950-53 Korean War.
The South's chief negotiator, Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, has said he would provide "bold" economic assistance to the impoverished North should it agree to resolve the decades-old issue.
"South and North Korea agreed to realize economic cooperation which can contribute to the Korean people's joint prosperity," the statement said.
But Lee failed to persuade North Korea to return to international disarmament talks. South Korea had sought to coax the communist country back to the stalled six-party talks during the inter-Korean talks.
The two Koreas agreed to meet again in July for Cabinet-level talks, the highest-level dialogue channel to coordinate cross-border reconciliation and cooperation.
