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제목 N. Korean military says it won't meet with reluctant S. Korea
작성자 관리자 등록일 2011.04.18 조회수 12157

2011-02-10 11:10

North Korea's military said Thursday its side will no longer talk to South Korea as long as Seoul remains reluctant to lower tension, a day after their first defense talks in nearly half a year collapsed despite high anticipation.

In a bulletin carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, the North's delegation to the two-day colonel-level talks said its South Korean counterpart "unilaterally withdrew" after refusing to compromise on ways to set up higher-level defense talks.

"Our military and people no longer feel the need to meet (with the South) under the condition where the traitor's group is entirely refusing to talk while being reluctant to improve inter-Korean relations," the North Korean delegation said in the bulletin.

Following the talks at the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea said the North hindered progress by refusing to admit its responsibility for deadly provocations last year.

Tension remains high on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea bombarded a South Korean island in November and a South Korean warship sank in March in an attack blamed on Pyongyang.

The North has consistently denied involvement in the sinking and claimed that its artillery attack on Yeonpyeong was legitimate because the South provoked it first by holding a live-fire drill near the island with some shells falling on the North's side.

South Korea has maintained for months that the North must first account for its provocations and reaffirm its denuclearization pledge before Seoul can consider restoring exchanges with Pyongyang.

The military delegations ended their negotiations on Wednesday without agreeing on another round. The North said Thursday that the talks came to a halt seven times in total and "broke down after only wasting time," calling the South Korean negotiators "scoundrels."

"Our military and people cherish peace more than anyone but will never beg for it," the North said. "It is the traditional response of our military and people to meet dialogue with dialogue and confrontation with confrontation."

Col. Moon Sang-gyun, the South Korean chief delegate, said after returning from the border talks that the North's delegates "unilaterally walked out of a meeting room without a remark" after exchanging acrimonious words over their disputes.

Although the military talks broke down, analysts said the two sides would try to resume talks soon.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said, "There is still room for dialogue. The North appears to be lacking sincerity in its approach while the South lacks flexibility."

The inter-Korean military meeting came amid renewed efforts by regional powers to restart six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons programs. The talks, which involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, have been suspended since late 2008.

The following year, North Korea walked away in protest of U.N. and international sanctions over nuclear and missile tests.

Last month, the leaders of the U.S. and China agreed that inter-Korean dialogue is necessary before resuming the six-party talks.

South and North Korea remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.(Yonhap News)