North and South Korea have agreed in principle to resume cross-border freight train services for the first time in more than half a century, a spokesman for the South Korean Defence Ministry said Thursday in Seoul.

Speaking following the second of three days of talks between the prime ministers of both countries, the spokesman said the train service would be established "as soon as possible" between the South Korean border town of Munsan and Bongdong in the north.

A concrete date for the resumption of services was not confirmed but it is widely believed likely to be before the end of 2007.

South Korean President Roh Moo Hyan and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had agreed to reopen rail links during their summit held last month in Pyongyang.

The idea was part of a number of projects geared toward reconciliation and cooperation between two countries that technically remain still at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

Rail ties were cut from that war until May, when North and South Korea conducted a one-time test when they sent trains across one another's borders along two rail routes that they had reconnected.

North Korea has up to this point however not allowed regular train services across the heavily-guarded 4-kilometre buffer zone between the two countries.

North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong Il arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for talks with South Korean counterpart Han Duck Soo aimed at implementing agreements reached at the Pyongyang presidential summit.

The meeting of both Korean prime ministers, the first for 15 years, was to conclude Friday with a joint declaration.

According to South Korean diplomatic sources, other topics being taken up by both premiers were the establishment of a "peace zone" along the western coast of the Korean peninsula, the provision of South Korean aid for the north's rail and road network and for shipbuilding, as well as efforts to reunite families separated by the border.

It was not immediately confirmed however if progress was being made on any of these issues.

The defence ministers of North and South Korea are meanwhile set to meet for talks at the end of this month.