January 24, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1423

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SEOUL, Jan 23: North and South Korea agreed to work together to resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula peacefully, a joint statement released at the end of marathon cabinet-level talks said here in the early hours of Friday.

“North and South Korea have exchanged enough of each others’ positions on the nuclear issue and agreed to actively co-operate to settle this problem in a peaceful manner,” the statement said.

However the statement fell well short of a South Korean push for the announcement to include concrete measures that the North would take to end the crisis.

The South Korean Unification Ministry issued a separate statement at the end of the talks, which lasted through Thursday night until 6:00 am on Friday, expressing its disappointment.

“The South Korean side has not produced a progressive position from the North over the nuclear issue but conveyed our and international concerns over the nuclear problem,” the ministry said.—AFP