Yang Moo-Jin, professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said the South’s refusal to discuss resumption of the tour programme – which was widely believed before the meeting to have been on the agenda – appeared to have left Pyongyang “deeply mistrustful” of Seoul.
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(Hwang Kwang-mo/Yonhap via AP).
The rare high-level talks ended Saturday night after two days of marathon negotiations produced no agreement on any issues – not even an agreement on whether to meet again. Now, 75 years after seven of those refugees gave Tatsuo Osako photographs of themselves to show their gratitude, a…
No major breakthrough had been expected from the meeting of vice-ministerial officials in the town of Kaesong, but analysts had considered the talks a sign that the rivals were working to keep alive an atmosphere of dialogue – something they have often failed to do in the wake of conflict.
The talks, held on the North Korean side of the border in the jointly-run Kaesong industrial zone, were a key element of an accord reached in August to end a unsafe military standoff. North Korea is likely to raise the issue of halting those drills, along with pushing for the reopening of the Mount Kumgang tourist resort.
“The North focused on raising the Mount Kumgang tourism issue and linking it with the family reunions”, Vice Minister Hwang told reporters on Saturday after the talks. These were suspended in 2008. “There is no change in the government’s basic policy to develop South-North ties and lay the foundation for a peaceful reunification by holding open dialogue with the North”.
Hwang said he had explained to Pyongyang on the first day that “nuclear weapons are an impediment to advancing South-North relations, so the issue must be resolved”.
The United States has more than 28,000 troops deployed in South Korea. None of them has-been given a probability to attend a 2nd reunion since the Koreas bar their citizens from visiting one another & exchanging letters & phone calls with out special permission. Most have died without ever seeing or hearing from relatives on the other side of the border.
Analysts say North Korea fears that its citizens will become influenced by the much more affluent South, which could loosen the government’s grip on power.
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The negotiations are the latest in a series of measures to improve relations after a tense standoff that began in August, when two South Korean soldiers were seriously hurt by landmine explosions along the border.
