The two Koreas agreed on Monday to speed up their work to link their railway and road networks, the latest phase of the rapprochement between the two countries, which has pushed Seoul's policy to more divergence from Washington's policy.
The two countries made the decision during high-level talks held in Panmunjom village, in the demilitarized zone that divides the peninsula, where a number of meetings have been held over the past few months.
"The South and the North have decided to hold a ceremony to inaugurate the work of linking and modernizing railway and road networks in the eastern and western coastal areas in late November or early December," the two Koreas said in a joint statement.
Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, no contact between civilians or civilian flights between the two countries has been prohibited.
The delegates also agreed to hold military talks "as soon as possible" to ease tensions on the border and hold a meeting through the Red Cross to discuss topics related to new meetings for war-torn families.
The two countries will also discuss separately their joint nomination projects for organizing the Olympic Games in 2032 and a ceremony for North Korean artists in Seoul, the statement said.
This is the third time that South Korean Unification Minister Xu Myung-gyeon has met with his North Korean counterpart, Ray Sun-Gun, since the third summit between President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang last month.
By accelerating the rapprochement with Pyongyang, Seoul seems to have moved away from US policy toward the North. Washington is apparently not convinced of the rapid consensus on the peninsula.
During his summit with US President Donald Trump in June in Singapore, Kim Jong-un promised only to work on nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula, an expression that could carry all interpretations. Since then, Washington and Pyongyang have been fiercely critical of the content of this declaration.
The South Korean president has long advocated dialogue with the North, which is under UN sanctions for its banned nuclear and ballistic programs.
