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Talks Between Koreas Proceeding in 'Serious' Manner

   VOA News  February 08, 2011
   North  Korean  Colonel  Ri  Son-kwon  (front R) and other North Korean
   officers  walk  south of the truce village of Panmunjom in Paju, north
   of Seoul, February 8, 2011

Photo: Reuters

   North  Korean  Colonel  Ri  Son-kwon  (front R) and other North Korean
   officers  walk  south of the truce village of Panmunjom in Paju, north
   of Seoul, February 8, 2011

   South  Korean officials say military talks with North Korea are moving
   forward in a "serious" atmosphere and without political posturing.
   Colonels from the two countries met for almost an hour Tuesday morning
   and  convened  again  after lunch. The talks are the first between the
   two  Koreas  since  the  North launched an artillery attack on a South
   Korean island in November.
   The  South's  foreign  ministry  released  a photo of the two officers
   shaking  hands  before the talks in the border village of Panmunjom. A
   spokesman  said the sides were discussing the agenda and process for a
   higher-level  meeting and that "there were no political arguments from
   the two sides."
   However  the spokesman insisted that Seoul will not agree to a meeting
   between  the two defense ministers unless the North takes "responsible
   measures"  concerning  its  artillery  attack  on Yeonpyeong Island in
   November and the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.
   North  Korea  denies responsibility for sinking the ship, the Cheonan,
   and claims the South provoked its attack on Yeonpyeong, which caused a
   spike in tensions on the peninsula.
   North  Korea  abruptly  changed its tone late last year, replacing its
   fiery  rhetoric  with  appeals  for  negotiations to ease the tensions
   between  the  two.  The  North  is  seeking a resumption of six-nation
   negotiations on its nuclear programs, which it renounced last year.
   The  negotiations  are  aimed at setting terms under which North Korea
   would  dismantle  its nuclear weapons programs in exchange for foreign
   aid.  Economic  conditions  in the North are believed to have worsened
   since severe flooding last year.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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