North and South Korea on Saturday wrapped up two days of high-level talks aimed at easing cross-border tensions, with no agreement and no set date for further discussions.
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Seoul has called for more reunions between aging family members separated by the Korean War more than half a century ago.
The talks brought about results that are worse than not holding talks and “the prospects of North-South relations became even bleaker”, a spokesman of the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
The tours were a valuable source of hard currency for the North before Seoul suspended them in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist.
Both sides blamed each other for the deadlock, with Pyongyang accusing Seoul of refusing to discuss “core issues” and the South accusing the North of prioritising economic projects over humanitarian issues. Seoul has insisted on more safety guarantees for South Koreans to prevent a repeat of such an incident.
The talks were the first of their kind in two years.
On the abrupt cancellation of a Beijing concert by North Korea’s all-female propaganda band Moranbong, Jeong said Seoul has yet to figure out the background.
However, because Pyongyang repeatedly continued to emphasize that it would discuss inter-Korean family reunions only after Mount Kumgang tourism was specified in the agreement, South Korea’s top agenda items failed to be discussed in detail.
Hwang Boogi, South Korea’s vice minister of unification and the head negotiator of the meetings in Kaesong, said that the discussions could prolong again on Saturday. Pyongyang denies any involvement.
The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
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South Korea’s Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said Monday that it is anticipating the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s positive response to its expected dialogue offer, though it has no detailed plan yet for such dialogue proposal.
