DPRK, ROK open high-level military talks

WORLD / Asia-Pacific

DPRK, ROK open high-level military talks

(AP)
Updated: 2007-07-24 11:11

PANMUNJOM, Korea - DPRK and ROK opened high-level military talks Tuesday,
with a disputed sea border off the divided peninsula's west coast likely
to remain a key sticking point.

Two-star generals are representing each side in three days of meetings at
the truce village of Panmunjom in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone
running between North Korea and South Korea.

The talks - the highest-level regular dialogue channel between the two
militaries - are aimed at following up on agreements reached at a
previous session in May. They include setting up a joint fishing area
around the disputed maritime border off the peninsula's west coast and
preparing security arrangements for joint economic projects near the
border.

The two sides have since held three rounds of lower-level talks to
discuss the agreements, but no progress has been made because North Korea
repeated its long-running demand that the sea border be redrawn further
south. This week's meetings could also see little headway if North Korea
raises the issue again.

The border issue has been a constant source of dispute on the divided
peninsula. North Korea does not recognize the current sea border
demarcated by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Pyongyang claims the border is too far north and complains that vessels
from the South often enter its waters. South Korea flatly denies the
accusations.

North Korea's navy command has issued a series of warnings in recent
months that a skirmish along the disputed maritime border in the Yellow
Sea - the scene of deadly clashes in 1999 and 2002 - could occur again
unless South Korean vessels stop entering North Korea's waters.

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