The same day, military authorities of South Korea and the DPRK reached a four-point agreement on the personnel transit of the military demarcation line (MDL) which divides the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea's special envoy held talks with Kim Yong Sun, a secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.They discussed the grave situation prevailing the Korean Peninsular and matters of mutual concern to the inter-Korean relations, the Korean Central News Agency said.

It was reported that Lim will stay in Pyongyang for three or four days and present a letter from Kim Dae-jung to DPRK leader Kim Jong Il calling for the DPRK to take substantive steps in solving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

"My visit to Pyongyang is aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue and avoiding any war on the Korean Peninsula," Lim, Kim Dae-jung's special aide for foreign affairs, national security and unification, told a press conference at the Inter-Korean Dialogue Secretariat, in downtown Seoul, shortly before leaving for Pyongyang.

"President Kim Dae-jung appointed me as his envoy to Pyongyang as a part of efforts to maintain the peace and stability of the peninsula, and to seek continuation of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation," the envoy said.

"I am to accurately convey the will and hope of President Kim Dae-jung and the South Korean people to the DPRK's top leader, KimJong Il, and listen carefully to his opinion."

Early this month, South Korea proposed to the DPRK the sending of a special envoy to Pyongyang. The proposal was accepted by the DPRK delegation during the ninth inter-Korean ministerial talks held in Seoul last week.

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2003)