North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong-il arrived at Seoul for a meeting with his South Korean counterpart to discuss follow-up measures to agreements reached at a recent summit of the two Koreas.

Kim is the first North Korean prime minister to visit South Korea in 15 years.

"We will try our utmost to make this week's meeting a constructive one that can give hope to both our citizens and the people of the North," Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung told reporters.

Kim and his South Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo will hold the first plenary meeting later in the day, to be followed by a welcoming dinner hosted by the South Korean prime minister.

The divided Koreas had held eight rounds of high-level talks between their prime ministers until 1992. This week's meeting is the first of its kind in 15 years.

The talks will focus on ways to implement agreements reached at the summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held in Pyongyang early last month.

At the summit, the leaders agreed to various measures that would help ease tension between the Koreas, which technically remain in a state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, while expanding inter-Korean economic ties and cooperation.

One of the key agreements from the inter-Korean summit is the establishment of a joint fishing area near the disputed maritime border in the West Sea where the navies of the two Koreas clashed in deadly gunfights in 1999 and 2002.

"As the prime ministers are looking for measures to facilitate what has already been agreed upon by their leaders, we expect their talks to be substantial and very constructive," a ministry official said.

SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Yonhap)