South and North Korea have opened two days of talks at the North's border city of Gaesong to discuss the reconnection of cross-border transportation links.

Working-level officials of the two sides will review the progress in the construction of two sets of railways and adjacent roads ... one along the east coast and the other in the western sector of the border. The talks ... the ninth since Two-thousand ... will also work out technical details on the operation of trains, and funding for the pavement of the roads.

South Korea has already completed the construction on the southern section of the Gyeongui Line and a highway that runs alongside the railroad, but North Korea has yet to finish work on its side of the border.

North Korea wants the South to provide equipment and materials for the construction of the southernmost train station north of the demilitarized zone.

Meanwhile, another group of officials met in separate talks also in the border city just north of the truce village of Panmunjom. The agenda at these talks is the signing of a maritime agreement that would allow both sides to use shipping routes in each other's territorial waters.

The two sides initialed the accord in Two-thousand-two, but have not put it into effect. South Korea is opposed to allowing the passage of North Korean ships through southern territorial waters for security reasons.