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                North, South Korea Militaries Hold Secret Talks

   by VOA News

   South Korean media and lawmakers say senior military officials from
   North and South Korea held a secret meeting Wednesday to discuss recent
   cross-border gunfire.

   The meeting, reported by Yonhap news agency and opposition politician
   Park Jie-won, occurred at the Panmunjom truce village located along the
   countries' tense de facto border.

   The two sides were said to have discussed an incident last Friday in
   which the two Koreas exchanged small arms fire after Pyongyang fired at
   a balloon from the South carrying anti-North propaganda.

   That followed an incident last week in which North and South Korean
   naval patrol boats traded warning shots along their disputed Yellow Sea
   border. There were no casualties or damage reported in either incident.

   The clashes threaten to unravel high-level talks agreed to earlier this
   month after North Korea unexpectedly sent a senior delegation to the
   South.

   At the proposed talks, the two sides are expected to discuss the
   resumption of reunions between families separated by the 1950s Korean
   War.

   There is also speculation that Seoul may consider loosening or lifting
   sanctions put in place after the fatal sinking of its navy ship, which
   killed 46 South Korean sailors in 2010.

   Recently, Pyongyang has linked lifting the sanctions to progress on
   inter-Korean relations.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/north-south-korea-militaries-hold-sec
   ret-talks/2484146.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/north-south-korea-militaries-hold-secret-talks/2484146.html