Korean talks fail to reach agreement

SEOUL: Two days of rare, high-level talks between North and South Korea aimed at easing cross-border tensions broke up on Saturday with no agreement and no set date for further discussions.

South Korea’s chief delegate, Hwang Boo-Gi, suggested North Korean intransigence over what issues could be discussed had contributed to the failure of the meeting in the jointly-run Kaesong industrial zone.

He also said it was Pyongyang who had rejected the idea of resuming the dialogue next week. The vice-minister-level talks, with a mandate to address a broad but unspecified range of inter-Korean issues, were the first of their type for nearly two years.

While no substantial breakthrough had been expected, there had been hopes of some tangible progress with both sides seeking the resumption of stalled cooperation projects that have significant symbolic and financial value. The cash-strapped North wanted the South to resume lucrative tours to its scenic Mount Kumgang resort, which Seoul suspended in 2008 after a female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean guard.

South Korea, meanwhile, wanted the North to agree to regular reunions for families separated by the Korean War. Speaking to reporters at the talks venue, Hwang said the North Korean side had insisted on linking the two issues and making a resolution of the Mount Kumgang question a pre-condition for discussing the reunions. "They insisted that the two sides reach an agreement on the resumption of the tours first," Hwang said.

"Our side stressed that the humanitarian issue of separated families and the resumption of the tours to Mount Kumgang are different in nature and should not be bundled together," he added.