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April 22, 2009

North Korea Accuses South of Provocation After Failed Kaesong Meeting
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Pyongyang says South moved a specific marker closer to North Korea, but
South Korean military officials say the accusation is groundless 
North Korea is accusing South Korea of moving a marker along the two
countries' tense border, a day after the two sides held failed talks in
the North Korean city of Kaesong. The North used those talks to demand
more money from the South. S. Korean chief delegate Kim Young-tak,
center, and officials return from N. Korean border city of Kaesong near
border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, 22 Apr 2009South Korea is
denying North Korean accusations, Wednesday, that the South's forces
moved a border marker along the line dividing the peninsula.'Vicious'
act Pyongyang accuses the South of edging a specific marker closer to
North Korea. The North's official news agency describes the move as a
"vicious criminal act" that risks whipping the North's army "into a
great fury." South Korean military officials say the accusation is
groundless. Tensions between the two Koreas remain high, a day after an
attempt to hold talks produced just 22 minutes of dialogue. North and
South Korean delegates spent most of Tuesday arguing about where to meet
and a basic agenda in the North Korean city, Kaesong. For more than
three weeks, North Korean authorities have detained a South Korean
executive who helps manage a joint industrial zone once hailed as a
model of inter-Korean cooperation. Tuesday's meeting failed to produce
progress on his release. North Korea used the meeting to demand new
contracts, under which South Korean companies in the zone would pay more
to the North for the use of its labor force. Kaesong businesses in
difficult position Yoo Chang-Geun is vice chairman of the Kaesong
Industrial Council, which represents businesses investing in the zone.
He says the demand puts Kaesong businesses in a difficult position. Yoo
says demanding higher wages for the North Korean workers in the complex
is unrealistic, because inter-Korean tensions creates risk for
investors. He says, if the wage rates are raised to that of China, it
becomes easier from an owner's perspective to invest there, instead.
North Korea has already un
dermined credibility in the Kaesong zone by suspending border crossings
necessary for operations several times this year. Proposal under review
Nonetheless, South Korean officials say they will study and carefully
consider the North's proposal. A South Korean spokesman says the South's
planned participation in an anti-nuclear-proliferation initiative also
came up during Tuesday's meeting. South Korea urged the North to taper
its rhetoric about Seoul's plan to join the Proliferation Security
Initiative. The U.S.-led cooperative of more than 90 nations shares
information and military assets to prevent the illegal trafficking of
weapons of mass destruction. North Korea says it would view South
Korea's participation as an act of war. The South has already postponed
two expected announcements that it would join PSI. The South's foreign
minister told lawmakers Wednesday, South Korea has not changed its
intention to join the program. 


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