TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=KOREA TALKS (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-270682

BYLINE=HYUN SUNG KHANG

DATELINE=SEOUL

INTERNET=YES

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: North and South Korea have resumed talks on reestablishing direct land links. Discussions are focusing on reconnecting a severed rail link and building a four lane highway between the two former Cold War enemies. From the South Korean capital, Seoul, Hyun-Sung Khang reports.

TEXT: Military officals from the two Koreas met at the border town of Panmunjom to discuss cooperation in the construction of a road and rail link across the four kilometer demilitarized zone that separates the two countries. This was their third such meeting since September.

The first stage of the project involves removing hundreds of thousands of mines buried in the DMZ. The two Koreas have yet to agree on a procedure to avoid military clashes during the construction of the links, with South Korea proposing a military hotline between the two sides.

The rail link will run through the North and South capitals and extend to Sinuiju, a city on North Korea's border with China. South Korea estimates it has already finished one-third of the necessary work. Last week, it suspended work for the winter and will resume construction in the spring. North Korea has started building on its side of the border, but has released no

details about its progress.

The road and rail links are scheduled to be completed in a year. They will be the first direct land links between the two Koreas since the 1950-1953 Korean War. Since that conflict, the border between the North and South has been tightly sealed, with no direct means of communication and transport between the citizens of the two countries.

The agreement to reestablish road and rail links between the two former Cold War enemies, is a result of the rapidly improving relations on the peninsula. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/HSK/FC/PFH