Two Koreas discuss expanding cooperation on health issues

South and North Korea held talks Wednesday to discuss ways to jointly fight contagious diseases and expand cooperation on health-related matters.

South Korea's Vice Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol met with his North Korean counterpart, Park Myong-su, with other ranking officials at the joint liaison office in the North's border town of Kaesong. The meeting started at around 10 a.m. the government said.

This was the first inter-Korean talks related to health issues in 11 years. The two Koreas previously held similar talks on December 2007.

The two sides were to discuss topics, such as how to work together to prevent contagious diseases from coming into the peninsula.

"We will faithfully participate in the meeting in order to achieve results in areas like improving health for people, as well as devise ways to halt an inflow of diseases," Kwon told reporters in Seoul before leaving for the talks.

In recent months, Seoul and Pyongyang have been holding a series of meetings on various cooperative projects on railway connections, forestry and other areas, all of which they believe will help ease tensions and build mutual trust. (Yonhap)