Talks between North and South Korean military officials were held
Thursday along the border separating the two rivals, marking the first
such contact between Pyongyang and Seoul in more than eight months.
The officials met for 90 minutes at the truce village of Panmunjom.
South
Korea's military envoy, Lee Sang-chul, says the South had high
expectations for the talks, but they ended with no significant
agreements.
Pak Rim Su, North Korea's chief delegate to the
talks, tells Yonhap his side called the meeting to raise the issue of
South Korea's "spreading of propaganda leaflets" throughout the North.
He says the North-South relationship is in a very serious situation.
Pak says the South Koreans were not ready to solve problems.
Pyongyang
proposed the talks last week, asking for them to be held on Tuesday.
Seoul agreed, but won a concession for the meeting to be held Thursday.
Relations
between North and South Korea have been tense since conservative South
Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February. Mr. Lee had
promised to take a tougher stance with the North.
The shooting
death of a South Korean tourist by North Korean soldiers at a mountain
resort in July further aggravated tensions.
In a separate
development, South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper says intelligence
sources have learned that Pyongyang is preparing to test a new
long-range missile.
The newspaper says the North has renovated
its launch facilities at its Musudan-ri launch pad on its eastern
coast. A 2006 test-fire of the North's Taepodong 2 missile failed
shortly after launch.
A state of war has technically existed
between the North and South Korea since their three-year war ended with
a truce, and a not a peace deal, in 1953.
