SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) opened their first joint office Friday in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, which is hoped to further facilitate inter-Korean economic cooperation in future.

¡¡¡¡The opening ceremony of the office in Kaesong was attended by more than 200 South Korean politicians, officials and business leaders and about 80 DPRK delegates, reported South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

    Fourteen South Korean government officials and civilian experts from South Korea and 10 of their counterparts from the DPRK are scheduled to be stationed at the office, said Yonhap.

    "This office will render support to South Korean businesses hoping to begin inter-Korean trade and invest in the North (DPRK) and address their difficulties," Lee Kwan-sei, head of the South Korean Unification Ministry's reunification policy office, said during the ceremony.

    "It will play a pivotal role in forming an economic community on the Korean Peninsula in the future," said Lee.

    Kim Song Il, vice chairman of the DPRK's National Economic Cooperation Committee, said in a congratulatory speech the establishment of the economic office will contribute to opening wider the future of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, according to Yonhap.

    Currently, the two countries are jointly constructing the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the DPRK border city, located some 80 kilometers north of Seoul. A score of South Korean enterprises have already opened factories in the pilot zone of the complex. Enditem