PYONGYANG, May. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea concluded general-level military talks Friday with a series of agreements on a military guarantee for an upcoming border railway test and mutual security trust in the West Sea.
The four-day Fifth Inter-Korean General Military Talks, which started Tuesday, was held in the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone.
"Both sides agreed to adopt and effectuate a tentative agreement on providing a military guarantee for the trial operation of a train between the north and the south on May 17," the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The DPRK and South Korea also agreed to create a joint fishing zone in the West Sea, and continue talks on easing tensions as well as preventing clashes in the area, according to the KCNA.
The DPRK and South Korea previously clashed in 1999 and 2002 around the waters of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea(the Yellow Sea), which resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.
The NLL was not clearly demarcated when the Korean War ended in1953. The American-led U.N. Command unilaterally delineated the NLL, which the DPRK has never recognized.
Both sides also agreed to continue talks on the direct passage of civilian ships and providing military guarantees for projects in the River Rimjin and in the estuary of the River Han.
The KCNA said that the DPRK and South Korea have decided to hold the second north-south defense minister-level talks, while the earliest date will depend on the progress made at the general-level military talks.
According to the release, the next Inter-Korean general-level military talks will be in July, with the specific date and venue to be fixed later.
SEOUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) wrapped up their general-level military talks Friday with a joint statement promising security guarantees for railway tests across their border and taking tension-easing measures.
In the statement, the two sides promised to provide military security guarantee for the test runs of two cross-border railways on May 17, which will be the first time for the two sides to be linked by railway transports since 1951. Full story
PYONGYANG, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Kim Yong-nam, top legislator of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), met here Thursday with South Korea's delegation of the East Asia Future Foundation.
Kim, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, held talks with the delegation "in a compatriotic atmosphere" at the Mansudae Assembly Hall, said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Full story
PYONGYANG, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Thursday accused South Korea of intruding into its waters in the West Sea, warning a new skirmish can happen any time if the South fails to halt such actions immediately.
The South Korean military has been "amassing forces in the waters off five islets in the West Sea and infiltrating warships deep into the territorial waters of the DPRK almost everyday," the Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted a DPRK Navy spokesman as saying. Full story
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