Akhir 17, 1432, March 22, 2011, SPA -- South Korea on Tuesday accepted North Korea's proposal to hold talks about an active volcano extolled in the North. The proposal North Korea made last week to discuss studies and field surveys of Mount Paektu came amid renewed attention to natural disasters following Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami. The volcano last erupted in 1903 but minor quakes increased there between 2002 and 2005, South Korean officials were quoted as saying by the Associated Press. South Korea replied to the offer by proposing that private experts of the two Koreas meet first and discuss the issue at a South Korean border village on March 29, the South's Unification Ministry said. «In the message, we said we agree on the need to cooperate,» the ministry said in a statement Tuesday. North Korea hasn't immediately responded to South Korea's offer, ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said. The talks would be the first such meeting between the Koreas, she said.
