(LEAD) S. Korea seeks dialogue on joint venture with N. Korea despite tension

(ATTN: UPDATES; RESTRUCTURES throughout)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea Thursday sent North Korea a list of
delegates that will attend next week's talks on Kaesong Industrial Complex, an
official said, as the communist neighbor stoked tension along the western sea
border by resuming artillery firing.

The list of 17 officials, including chief delegate Kim Young-tak, has been handed
over to North Korea through an inter-Korean office in the border town of Kaesong
in the North, the official here said.
"The list has been delivered to North Korea" through the office in Kaesong where
the Koreas have combined capital and labor since 2004 in an effort to expand
cross-border economic cooperation, the official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said earlier that the South planned
to provide the North with the list later Thursday.
"Despite the firing near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), we will push for calm and
stable inter-Korean relations by moving ahead with the talks" slated for Feb. 1
in Kaesong, he told reporters.
The move reflects the South's stance that the divided states should pursue
dialogue as scheduled even though the North continued for the second day to fire
artillery toward the NLL that separates the Koreas at sea.
Three naval skirmishes have taken place near the line since 1999, including one
in November last year.
About 110 South Korean firms operate in Kaesong near the west coast, employing
42,000 skilled North Korean workers, mostly producing labor-intensive goods such
as garments and kitchenware.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)

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