The first ever talks between rival military generals from North and South Korea ended yesterday with little progress, but both sides agreed to continue negotiations on how to reduce tension along the Cold War's last frontier amid an international standoff over the North's nuclear weapons programs.
The generals met at the east coast Diamond Mountain resort, just north of the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that has separated the opponents since the end of the 1950 to 1953 Korean War.
The one-day discussions stretched into the afternoon and ended in agreement to meet again on June 3 at Sorak Mountain in South Korea, according to a statement issued by the Defense Ministry.
South Korea proposed that the rare military meetings be regularized, the statement said.
South Korea also suggested that a hotline phone connection be established between the two sides and that the two navies adopt a standard radio frequency and signaling system to improve communication on the high seas, it said. Seoul also said both sides should exchange information about illegal fishing.
North Korea countered that both sides should discuss ways to reduce provocative propaganda.
"South and North Korea agreed to study each sides' proposals and continue discussions in future talks," the statement said, without providing details.
The Koreas, divided in 1945, officially remain in a state of war because the conflict ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. Their border is guarded by nearly 2 million soldiers, including 37,000 US troops in the South.
The officers were discussing ways to avoid naval skirmishes along their west coast during the May to June crab-catching season, when fishing boats from the two Koreas jostle for position along the poorly marked maritime border. The Koreas fought deadly naval gunbattles there in June 1999 and again in June 2002.
In the last clash, a South Korean warship sank, killing six of its sailors. The North said it also suffered casualties, but didn't say how many.
New clashes could derail fragile efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the international standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons development.
On Tuesday, South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun was optimistic about progress at the one-day meeting, saying the prospects were "not so bad" and that "accidental naval clashes in the West Sea must be prevented in whatever format."
The West Sea is known as the Yellow Sea outside Korea.
The five-member South Korean delegation was led by Rear Admiral Park Jung-hwa; the North's five-member team was headed by army Major General An Ik-san.
"Today's talks must go well," An said at the beginning of the talks. "A lot is expected from our nation and it is the first time for generals from South and North Korea to meet, so let's do our best."
The US, two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia are trying to hold a third round of six-nation talks by the end of June to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs, but a date has yet to be fixed.
The two Korean militaries seldom hold talks, although their governments have expanded economic and political exchanges in recent years.
The defense ministers of the Koreas met in September 2000, following that year's unprecedented inter-Korean summit.
But the North typically rejected the South's call for high-level military talks, allowing only colonels to meet and limiting their discussions to economic exchanges.
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