 |
A North Korean officer pushes a South Korean naval officer while they argue about showing a North Korean proposal map for a joint fishing area on a projector while the media is present, in inter-Korean generals¡¯ talks the truce village of Panmunjeom on Thursday. /Reuters
|
 |
|
Military leaders from the two Korea¡¯s talked for a second day in the truce village of Panmunjeom on Thursday, where as expected they tried but failed to find common ground over a joint fishing zone in the West Sea. The South called for the fishing zone to cover equal areas north and south of the Northern Limit Line, which has served as the de facto sea border. The South even offered flexibly to adjust the size of waters where the zone is close to the North's shoreline by extending the area to the South.
But the North insists on the whole fishing zone sitting south of the NLL. The four areas suggested by the North coincide with the maritime border areas it has unilaterally claimed, which according to analysts suggest the North aims to invalidate the NLL.
A government official said, "Our consistent principle is that North Korea should recognize the NLL and both sides establish a joint fishing zone around it. As this is the first time for both sides to establish a joint fishing zone, it would be better to operate one such zone first on a trial basis and establish more later."
Prior to a plenary session in the morning, North Korean officers attempted to explain their suggestion by displaying a map of their own creation on the screen in the front of the conference room, in the presence of South Korean reporters and TV crews. The North Korean map displayed their suggestion for the location of the joint fishing areas and a peace zone.
The South Korean delegation protested that turning on the projector in the presence of reporters violated the agreement that the talks should be held behind closed doors. In the process, a South Korean Navy lieutenant commander identified as Kim approached the projector to switch it off, when a North Korean officer pushed him hard in the chest twice. The North Korean delegates had brought a notebook computer, the projector and a screen to the talks. The scuffle did not escalate further.
But the meeting started at 10:30 a.m., 30 minutes later than scheduled, and there was a lot of shouting from North Korean delegates. Kim Yong-chol, the chief North Korean delegate, protested against South Korean press coverage of the results of the first-day meeting. "We're making many concessions. You should be grateful for that. Why did you disclose the results of the talks¡± on the first day?
In Wednesday¡¯s meeting, the two sides agreed on military safety guarantees for three key elements of inter-Korean exchanges -- easy travel, communication and customs clearance. The agreement will allow South Korean workers and tourists freely to use the Internet and both wired and wireless telephone services in the two major inter-Korean joint venture areas -- the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the Mt. Kumgang resort.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
