Koreas to mend border strain

2004-06-04 10:16

Seoul - South and North Korea agreed on Friday on a package of measures to ease tension along their border, the last Cold War frontier, after high-level talks on preventing clashes.

Military generals from the two sides agreed on measures to avoid accidental clashes in the disputed western sea border, said a statement issued after overnight marathon talks which began on Thursday.

Naval skirmishes in the fishing grounds off the western coast during the May-June crab season have disrupted rapprochement in recent years on the peninsula.

The measures agreed include setting up of a telephone hotline, sharing a radio frequency, using joint signalling systems and exchanging information on illicit fishing in the area, starting from June 15.

South and North Korea also agreed to stop propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts and to dismantle propaganda signboards along the 248km land border by August 15.

In conflict

The agreements were seen as a big step forward as the two Koreas still remain technically in conflict since the 1950-1953 Korean War.

The two sides will hold another round of working-level talks in the North Korean border city of Kaesong next Thursday to discuss ways of implementing what they have agreed, the South's Colonel Moon Sung-Mook said.

"The government would turn these talks into a main dialogue channel to discuss measures to ease military tensions and build mutual trust," he said.

Friday's breakthrough came after tough sessions at South Korea's Mount Seorak resort, 200km east of Seoul.

Rich fishing

The talks were meant to focus on joint measures to prevent armed clashes in the rich fishing grounds of the Yellow sea, but stalled as the two sides wrangled over the demarcation of the maritime border.

Arguments broke out as the North Korean side repeated its demand to redraw the current sea border that it says is a source of naval clashes, Moon said. However it backed down early on Friday.

Drawn by US-led allied troops at the end of the Korean War, Northern Limit Line has served as a de-facto maritime border. The North has never recognised it.

South Korean delegates flatly rejected the North's demand.

"We made it clear that we cannot just remain idle if they (North Korean vessels) cross the maritime border. The North knows where the border is now," Moon said.

Since 1999, dozens of casualties have been reported on both sides.

The rare inter-Korean military meeting comes at a sensitive time when an international diplomatic drive is underway to encourage the North to abandon nuclear ambitions.

North Korea had previously insisted on negotiating only with the United States on military matters.

The Korean War ended in a fragile armistice rather than a peace treaty. North Korea's 1.1 million-strong army faces off against South Korea's 690 000 troops backed by 37 000 US soldiers.

Commodore Park Jung-Hwa led the South's delegation at Mount Seorak. The North Korean team was led by Rear Admiral An Ik-San.

- AFP