Asia-Pacific

ROK, DPRK wrap up military talks without progress

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-30 18:58

SEOUL - South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) ended on Thursday their first working-level military talks in two years without progress, officials in Seoul said.

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Three officials each from the two sides held the talks that lasted for about two hours in the truce village of Panmunjom, in what was their first military contact since the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March, blamed on the DPRK's torpedo attack.

South Korean officials urged their counterparts to admit to the attack, apologize for it and punish those behind the incident, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. DPRK officials, on the other hand, rejected the findings of a Seoul-led multinational probe that pointed to the DPRK as responsible for the incident.

The two Koreas failed to set a new date for the next round of talks, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an unidentified defense ministry source.

The talks, initially proposed by Pyongyang in what Seoul believed might be part of its peace overtures, coincided five-day joint anti-submarine exercises by Seoul and Washington in the Yellow Sea held in response to the sinking.

The last such military talks between Seoul and Pyongyang, former wartime rivals, were held in Oct 2008.