Mr. Roh said the North was “somewhat upset” about the slow pace of development of the Kaesong Industrial Complex — a special economic zone built by South Korea inside North Korea and the centerpiece of the South’s engagement policy toward the North.  At the same time, the South’s reference to Kaesong as the “symbol of reform and openness” clearly made the North’s top leaders uneasy, Mr. Roh said, suggesting that North Korea, like China, was seeking economic growth without political change.  “The distrust and reluctance they feel toward the terminologies ‘reform and openness’ is something I felt when talking to Kim Young-nam yesterday and at the meeting with Chairman Kim this morning,” Mr. Roh said, referring first to the North’s No. 2 leader, whom he met Tuesday, and then to Kim Jong-il.  The first summit meeting between the Koreas, in June 2000, ushered in a new era of reconciliation between cold war enemies who had taught their children to hate one another for decades.  This meeting could serve as a reckoning of the last seven years of the South’s engagement policy toward the North — a policy that the South has hewed to despite the North’s test of missiles and a nuclear device, as well as the Bush administration’s initial hard-line attitude toward Mr. Kim’s government.  In South Korea this week there has not been any of the euphoria of the 2000 meeting, which kept South Koreans glued to their televisions and fundamentally changed their perceptions of the North. This time, the South’s focus was economic, as indicated by the large entourage of business leaders with Mr. Roh.  Among South Koreans, there is no longer any heady talk of a quick, German-like, reunification. Instead, they envision a carefully planned, sober process that will make the North less poor and shrink the gap between the Koreas before an eventual reunification, perhaps decades from now.  “In general, I support this summit, but I’m a little less enthusiastic than I was in 2000,” said Byun Yoo-seok, 36, a pharmacist enjoying a day off on Wednesday in the Myungdong shopping area here. “I guess I realized that reunification will take a long time.”  Lee Choon-won, 79, who was having coffee at a Starbucks with three friends, said: “There’s no emotion this time. It’s no fun. It’s just Roh Moo-hyun doing whatever he’s doing. North Korea got money last time and wants more this time.”  Indeed, many South Koreans and the political opposition say they thought that Mr. Roh, long accused of coddling the North, would give away too much for little in return. He has been trying to set up a meeting with the North ever since he was elected five years ago.  But critics say Mr. Roh, a lame duck with only four months left in office, wants to burnish his legacy with an accord and influence the coming presidential election.  At the moment, Lee Myung-bak, the candidate for the conservative opposition Grand National Party, has a strong lead in the polls. Mr. Lee supports the engagement policy toward the North and has also talked of offering the North huge economic projects, but he has also emphasized the need for the North to reciprocate on security issues.  The North, which has consistently attacked the Grand National Party, is believed to favor a liberal South Korean president. Critics here have accused Mr. Kim of agreeing to this summit meeting in a bid to stir euphoria about reconciliation between the Koreas and help Mr. Roh’s liberal United New Democratic Party.  Over the last five years, Mr. Kim consistently rebuffed the South’s approaches for a second meeting. He said the conditions were not right, apparently referring to the stalled nuclear talks that began moving forward with a softening of Washington’s position early this year.  On Wednesday, though, Mr. Kim surprised Mr. Roh by suddenly asking him to extend his visit by one day. Mr. Kim apparently withdrew the invitation after Mr. Roh told his host that he would have to consult his staff.  “Can’t a president decide?” Mr. Kim asked in a seemingly teasing manner. “Presidents should be able to decide.”  Mr. Roh said, “I can decide on big things, but on little things, I can’t decide.”  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Korean Leaders Agree On Economic Projects. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
In a joint declaration today, South and North Korea said they would seek to put a formal end to the Korean War.