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A first day of talks between generals in the two Korea¡¯s militaries on Tuesday again made little headway on the key issues of preventing accidental skirmishes in the West Sea and a guarantee of safe passage for cross-border railways and roads. The present round, the fourth, will last for three days at Peace House in the Panmunjom truce village in the demilitarized zone between North and South.
However, the South gave a little ground by proposing the inclusion on the agenda of the Northern Limit Line among eight military matters in a 1992 fundamental written agreement to be discussed when the defense ministers meet. So far South Korea has declined to discuss any revision to the NLL, which the North refuses to recognize.
Some in the government say that shift came because the North complained it has made military concessions by allowing the joint-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex to be built on its soil and opening Mt.Kumgang for tourism while Seoul has been unyielding. But there remains a clear difference of opinion over the NLL, with the North again demanding it must be replaced by a completely new maritime border.
In a keynote statement that opened the talks, Seoul said given that the North and South already agreed to a trial run of the cross-border railroads on May 25, the first order of business should be to secure the military guarantees of safe passage. But Pyongyang is stalling. According to Col. Moon Sung-mook, who heads the Defense Ministry's North Korea policy team, North Korea says it wants the matter discussed not among the generals but in working-level military talks.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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