SEOUL, JUNE 15: South and North Korea will take measures to prevent an accidental war, including setting up a military hotline, the South Korean Government said on Thursday."In accordance with this spirit, the South and North will implement measures such as the opening of direct military hotlines, the suspension of mutual denunciation and acts of destruction and insurrection," a government task force said in a report released here.The report said there was "firm agreement" between the leaders of the two Koreas during their landmark summit in Pyongyang on the prevention of war and establishing peace on the Korean peninsula.The report spelled out guidelines and detailed plans for Seoul to implement a groundbreaking joint declaration signed on Wednesday by South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung and the North's leader Kim Jong-Il."To prevent any unexpected military incident, we will push for the establishment of a direct military hotline," it said.The report quoted Kim Dae-Jung as warning that the eruption of war would destroy the peninsula and that "nothing would be achieved by means of war".The two Koreas, divided in 1945, have been engaged in scattered armed clashes across the border since they fought a devastating war in the early 1950 which has not officially ended.The report said as the two Koreas "are set to build a structure of peace based on mutual trust as well as the reduction of threats against each other, they will be able to achieve the goal of ending the Cold War."Meanwhile, Koreans on Thursday focussed on the tasks that lay ahead after a historic South-North summit, as the United States gave a cautious welcome to signs of reconciliation on the peninsula.People huddled around television screens into the early hours of Thursday to watch the two leaders in face-to-face talks, signing documents, exchanging pleasantries, dining together and holding their joined hands aloft.The two agreed to hold "government-to-government dialogue," step up exchanges and work towards reunification, a joint summit declaration said.Pictures of the two men standing hand-in-hand after signing the accord were splashed across the divided peninsula and the world."The two Koreas have been spending their resources for arms buildup during the Cold War confontation and mutual attrition," said 24-year-old Han Sang-Bong, a student at the Korea University."Now I hope they could use these resources for productive investment."An unknown number of families divided since Korea was split in 1945 are to be allowed to meet relatives on either side around August 15 - the 55th anniversary of Korea's liberation at the end of World War II.
