South Korea's chief delegate Moon Seong-mook (L) shakes hands with his North Korean counterpart Yu Young Cheol before Inter-Korean working-level military talks at the truce village of Panmunjom July 20, 2005.

    SEOUL, July 20 (Xinhuanet) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed Wednesday to resume stalled work of dismantling propaganda facilities along their land border from next week.

    According to a news release issued by South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, the two sides agreed to resume the third stage of propaganda facility removal on July 25 and complete the work by Aug. 13.

    Military officers to the one-day working-level inter-Korean military talks at the border village of Panmunjom also agreed to open liaison offices in their own side on Aug. 13 as part of the efforts to prevent accidental armed clashes in the Yellow Sea, the release said.

    The release also added the two sides will set up military hotlines and conduct a test call on Aug. 10.

    Wednesday's meeting failed to set the date for the third round of inter-Korean general-level meeting, which has been stalled since June last year, but agreed to hold another working-level talks on Aug. 12 to discuss the issue, the release said.

DPRK's team walk in southern side Panmunjom for Inter-Korean working-level military talks July 20, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

    In the latest round of inter-Korean ministerial talks held in late June in Seoul, the two sides agreed to resume general-level military talks at the DPRK's highest Paekdu mountain in future.

    In their two previous general-level talks, South Korea and the DPRK agreed on a package of tension-easing measures such as the establishment of hotlines between their navies and the dismantlement of border propaganda facilities.

    The two sides, however, halted the dismantling of border propaganda facilities several weeks after completing work in the western and central sections of the land border. Enditem