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The defense ministers of the two Koreas started three days of talks with a clash over the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto border in the West Sea. The North reiterated its long-standing demand for the NLL to be redrawn and a planned joint fishing area that was supposed to ease tensions over the issue to be located south of the maritime border. The South wants the joint fishing area on both sides of the current NLL and is wary of redrawing it.
Led by Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo, the South Korean delegation in a closed general meeting on Tuesday proposed locating the joint fishing zone in two equal areas north and south of the NLL. But the North Korean delegation headed by defense chief Kim Il-chol called for the joint fishing zone to be created south of the NLL and be designated a ¡°peace zone.¡± The proposed site is between the current NLL and a maritime military border Pyongyang unilaterally designated in 1999.
The South Korean delegation called for a direct phone line between the two Korea¡¯s defense ministers or chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff and to operate a joint military committee. It also called for joint efforts to resolve the issue of South Korean prisoners of war held by the North and to excavate the remains of South Korean soldiers who went missing or died during the Korean War.
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South Korean Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo shakes hands with his North Korean counterpart Kim Il-chol at the the Songjeongak State Guesthouse in Pyongyang Tuesday.
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The North stressed military cooperation for a summit of signatories to the armistice that would officially end the Korean War. It also stressed the need for military security guarantees to facilitate inter-Korean economic cooperation, an end to bilateral military hostility and the peaceful resolution of possible conflicts without resorting to force. Experts predict the talks will be tough but produce results.
The South Koreans left Gimpo Airport at 10:12 a.m. Tuesday and arrived at Pyongyang¡¯s Sunan International Airport 49 minutes later at 11:01 a.m. At the airport, they were greeted by North Korean deputy chief delegate Kim Young-chol, North Korea's very unofficial "information minister¡±, and Col. Park Rim-soo. On arrival at the Songjeongak State Guesthouse in Pyongyang, they were welcomed by Kim Il-chol. The Songjeongak State Guesthouse is a top-level resort managed by the North Korean Defense Ministry and functions as an exclusive facility for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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