South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed on Monday to jointly combat forest diseases and pests, according to a joint statement adopted after the working-level talks.
The working-level dialogue was held at the joint inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, which was opened last month, to implement the Pyongyang Declaration signed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un after their third summit in Pyongyang in September.
The two sides agreed to jointly fight forest diseases and pests, including pine tree pests, every year through future consultations.
As part of the efforts, South Korea agreed to provide necessary drugs for pine tree pests in November and conduct a joint combat project until March next year.
The two Koreas also agreed to gradually conduct projects to modernize tree nurseries in the DPRK. Within this year, the two sides would push to modernize 10 tree nurseries in the DPRK.
According to the joint statement, the two sides will actively push to jointly tackle forest fires and protect ecosystems, while jointly holding seminars on forest-related science and technology.
