Korea Military Talks Break Down

North Korea's lieutenant general Kim Yong-Chol (C) and other North Korean officers walk as South Korean officers (L and R) lead them to return to North Korea after the North Koreans crossed the border to attend the two Koreas' general-level military talks on the south side of the truce village of Panmunjom July 25, 2007. Military talks between the two Koreas to ease tensions on the Cold War's last frontier broke down in acrimony on Thursday over a nautical border set more than a half century ago. REUTERS/Kim Jae-Hwan/Pool



Military talks between two Koreas end in rancour

SEOUL (Reuters) - Military talks between the two Koreas to ease tensions on the Cold War's last frontier broke down in acrimony on Thursday over a nautical border set more than a half century ago.
The clash between generals from the two sides -- which have never formally ended their 1950-1953 war -- came despite an easing of tensions on the peninsula after Pyongyang began implementing a nuclear disarmament deal.
The North called the latest three-day meeting pointless.
"We've come to a conclusion that we don't need these fruitless talks any more," said a clearly angry Kim Yong-chol, the head of the North Korean delegation.
High-level military talks over the past few years have led to agreements where the two Koreas tore down propaganda signs along the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) barrier that divides them and set up hot-lines to prevent clashes in disputed waters on the west side of the peninsula.
The talks came just weeks after North Korea shut down its nuclear reactor and plant that produces plutonium for bombs as a part of an international deal reached in February in exchange for the South giving it 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.
On Tuesday, Kim started the session held on the south side of a joint truce village in the DMZ by telling a bawdry joke and left on Thursday in a huff without shaking hands and charging the South with being inflexible.
"It is highly regrettable that we have to wrap up the three days of talks with no concrete results," said Jung Seung-jo, the leader of the South's delegation.
Jung said the North would not back down in its call for a new sea border to replace the "Northern Limit Line", which drawn by U.S.-led United Nations forces after the Korean War ended in a truce. The line is the de facto sea border.
The North says the line is not valid and observes a notional frontier farther south. This has led to naval clashes in which dozens of sailors from both sides have died in recent years.
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Last updated: 26-Jul-07 06:51 BST


Korea Military Talks Break Down
By AP

(PANMUNJOM, Korea) — North Korea walked out of military talks with South Korea, ending three days of high-level negotiations Thursday with no agreement amid a lingering dispute over their shared sea border.
"We've come to the conclusion that we don't need these fruitless talks any more," North Korea's chief delegate Lt. Gen. Kim Yong Chol said at the final session in the truce village of Panmunjom.
Kim criticized the South for avoiding discussions of what he termed the "illegal" sea border. The frontier was drawn by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, and Seoul has repeatedly rejected the North's demands that it be changed.
The issue has been a constant obstacle at military talks between the sides, and the disputed waters that contain rich fishing grounds have previously been the scene of deadly battles in 1999 and 2002.
South Korea's chief envoy, Maj. Gen. Jung Seung-jo told Kim it was "highly regrettable" that the negotiations would end without results.
"Your side continued making this demand even though your side knows very well that our side cannot accept it," Jung said, referring to the border issue.
The generals from the North and South left the room after the 40-minute session without shaking hands or setting any date for a next meeting — with Kim appearing red-faced and visibly angry.
The South had called for the two sides to at least reach consensus on less controversial issues, such as opening a hotline between Navy commanders to prevent future clashes in waters off the peninsula's western coast.
At the start of Thursday's meeting, the North's Kim mocked his South Korean counterparts.
"Throughout the past few days, I feel as if I had become a victim of April Fool's Day jokes," Kim said.
Jung had tried to seek compromise and called for understanding the other side's position, but Kim flatly refused and retorted that "it would go against respecting principles and truth if you have to respect and accept anything just because it is the other side's view."
This week's talks are the highest-level dialog channel between the two militaries, and were intended to follow up on agreements reached in May on setting up a joint fishing area around the contended border and cooperation on security arrangements for joint economic projects there.
Waters around the sea border are rich fishing areas and have been a past scene of deadly conflicts in 1999 and 2002.
The two Koreas have made strides toward reconciliation since a 2000 summit between their leaders, but they remain technically at war because the Korean War cease-fire has never been replaced by a peace treaty.
* http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1647245,00.html



Koreas fail to find common ground in military talks

South and North Korea ended their rare high-level military talks on Thursday without any progress towards easing tension between the two sides, as they remained locked in a standoff over their disputed sea border.
The icy mood at the end of the three-day negotiations held at the truce village of Panmunjom signaled that there will be no such inter-Korean talks involving general-grade officers for the time being.
The long-running military gridlock has hampered closer inter-Korean economic and cultural exchanges.
South Korean delegates proposed measures to prevent armed conflicts near the western sea border, including the establishment of a joint fishing zone in the crab-rich waters in the area.
They also called for a permanent security guarantee for cross-border trains and joint development of the mouth of the Han River. With the two railways, one cutting across the western side of the border and the other in the east, set for operations, the two Koreas conducted trial runs of trains in May.
But the North reiterated its demand for a new maritime border to replace the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which has served as the de-facto sea border since the 1950-53 Korean War.
The North refuses to recognize the line drawn up unilaterally by United Nations troops.
Pyongyang's delegate Kim Young-chol said the NLL issue is a deal breaker again and alleged that Seoul bears responsibility.
"The South's claim that the NLL is a basic military demarcation line that has been observed so far is a sophistry," the two-star general said during the closing session unusually opened to the media.
He strongly hinted that Pyongyang will boycott future general-grade military talks between the two Koreas, questioning the efficacy of such "fruitless" talks.
"The South seems not to be ready for talks. So to speak, we reached a conclusion that it cannot be a dialogue partner," Kim said.
South Korean negotiators expressed regret.
"It is highly regrettable that we have to wrap up the three days of talks with no concrete results," said Army Maj. Gen. Jeong Seung-jo, head of the South's delegation.
"Your side continued making this demand even though your side knows very well that our side cannot accept it," Jung said, referring to the NLL.
Briefing reporters on the results of the talks later, Col. Moon Sung-mook said the gulf between the two sides on the NLL was too wide to continue talks.
"The North staunchly insisted that it can't continue talks unless the South changes its position on the issue," said the spokesman for the southern delegation.
The two Koreas are technically in a state of war, with nearly 2 million battle-ready troops deployed on both sides of the demarcation line.
They have held general-level military talks on a irregular basis, and this week's round was the sixth of its kind. The two sides failed to set a date for the next round.
SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap News)