By Lee Jin-woo With Joint Press Corps

During the five-day inter-Korean economic cooperation promotion talks held in Pyongyang, the South also agreed to provide 400,000 tons of rice to the impoverished North in late May, but Seoul could not persuade Pyongyang to make a commitment to take steps to implement a February denuclearization agreement of the six-party talks.

The both sides announced a 10-point agreement on the railway test runs, rice aid and expanded economic cooperation after they engaged in marathon talks. The four-day talks stretched into an extra day as the two sides clashed over thorny issues including the nuclear disarmament issue several times.

"The two sides will hold working-level talks to discuss operations of cross-border railways in Kaesong on April 27-28," the agreement said. They agreed to make efforts to secure a military security guarantee prior to conducting the test runs on May 17.

(Korea Times, April 22, 2007)