In a landmark meeting in Bangkok yesterday, the Foreign Ministers of North and South Korea agreed to co-operate more closely to hasten the recent reconciliation process between the two states.
After meeting for 40 minutes on the sidelines of an Asian security forum, which North Korea is attending for the first time, Mr Paek Nam-Sun of North Korea and Mr Lee Joung-binn of South Korea released a statement agreeing to "enhance inter-Korean reconciliation and co-operation".
The two Koreas would co-operate "on matters of external relations and in the international arena," they said.
External relations co-operation could include sending a joint mission to the planned UN millennium summit, according to Mr Choi Young Jin, the South Korean Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and Co-ordination.
It might also include meetings between North and South Korean officials in countries where both Pyongyang and Seoul have embassies, Mr Choi said.
Both foreign ministers appeared relaxed as they left the meeting, and Mr Paek even stopped to exchange a few light-hearted words with reporters.
Meanwhile, the US State Department has confirmed that the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, will meet Mr Paek at the Bangkok talks tomorrow in the highest level meeting ever between North Korea and the US. "This is an introductory meeting but an historic one," the State Department spokesman, Mr Richard Boucher, said.
The Foreign Ministers of Japan and North Korea also met in Bangkok yesterday and agreed to resume talks on establishing bilateral ties next month.
Senior Japanese and North Korean negotiators met in April in Pyongyang to resume normalisation talks that collapsed in 1992, but the second round, set for late May, was postponed at North Korea's request.