Lee Jae-jeong, the superintendent of Gyeonggi Province Office of Education, will propose a plan for South Korean students to visit the North at Wednesday’s railroad groundbreaking ceremony, the education office said Tuesday.

According to the office, Lee will participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for a joint project to reconnect roads and railways across the border to be held at the Panmun Station in the North’s border town of Kaesong. 

There, Lee will propose the plan to the North, under which South Korean student delegates visit the North, in the first half of next year, at the earliest. Lee served as unification minister in the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

“I want students to start (the South-North exchanges),” Lee said. “The students who visit North Korea may be able to suggest going on a field trip to Baekdusan and Kumgangsan in the future.”

An official from the education office explained that the proposal suggests about 100 South Korean students visit education institutes in Pyongyang.

“The Panmunjom Declaration (announced by the leaders of the two Koreas in April) includes the agreement that the two Koreas increase exchanges in the civil sector. There has not been any official discussion on educational exchanges, so (Lee’s) suggestion highlights the need,” the official said.

If Lee is not able to meet directly with a North Korean official, he will deliver his proposal via the joint liaison office in Kaesong, the official added.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)