SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had agreed to conduct a joint inspection on railways across the border from Nov. 30, Seoul's unification ministry said Wednesday.

The joint survey would last for 18 days from Friday on railways across the heavily-armed inter-Korean border.

The inspection on the DPRK's railways along the eastern coast would mark the first since the peninsula was divided with the armistice agreement that suspended the 1950-53 Korean War.

The peninsula remains in a technical state of war because of the armistice agreement.

The two Koreas originally planned to carry out the joint survey in late July, but it was delayed for about four months as the U.S.-led United Nations (UN) Command disapproved of it. The UN Command handles military affairs inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the peninsula.

Consultation for the joint survey was resumed this week as the United Nations granted a sanctions exemption over the weekend to the railway inspection between the two Koreas.

The inspection would be a part of efforts to implement the Panmunjom Declaration, which South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un signed during their first summit at the border village of Panmunjom in April.

Under the Panmunjom Declaration, the two sides agreed to modernize and eventually connect railways and roads across the inter-Korean border.

Following their third summit in Pyongyang in September, Moon and Kim agreed to hold a groundbreaking ceremony within this year to connect railways across the border. Enditem

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