ROK, DPRK start 7th talks on Kaesong issue

Head of the the Republic of Korea's working-level delegation Kim Ki-woong (L) shakes hands with his the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's counterpart Park Chol-su during their talks at Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee in Kaesong August 14, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Wednesday kicked off the seventh round of working-level talks at the Kaesong Industrial complex.

Three-member delegations began the dialogue at 10 am local time as scheduled in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, according to Yonhap News Agency.

During the last two months, Seoul and Pyongyang have held six rounds of talks on reopening the Kaesong complex but eventually failed to reach an agreement on conditions for the normalization of the complex.

The ROK and the DPRK last week agreed to hold the seventh round of working-level talks and both voiced hopes for fruitful results at the upcoming talks.

Operations of 123 South Korean companies in Kaesong industrial complex have been suspended for four months after Pyongyang pulled out 53,000 DPRK workers from working at the industrial zone.

Launched in late 2004, The inter-Korean industrial zone, which was jointly managed by the ROK and the DPRK, was seen as one of the key symbols of economic cooperation between the two countries.