North Korea declared a “quasi-state of conflict” in front-line areas and set an ultimatum for Seoul to halt its broadcasts.
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The deadline passed without incident – and without the loudspeakers’ removal – and the talks began 90 minutes later, at 6 p.m. local time (0900 UTC).
Kim Kwan-jin, chief security advisor to South Korean President Park Geun-hye, and Hwang Pyong So, top military aide to DPRK’s top leader Kim Jong Un, held almost 10 hours of marathon talks that adjourned at 4:15 a.m. Sunday, but they failed to narrow differences over the “recently formed situations”.
North Koreans fired several shells toward loudspeakers broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda and the South retaliated by firing dozens of 155-millimetre howitzer rounds on Thursday afternoon.
At the same time, South Korea’s military says it detected unusual troop and submarine movements in North Korea that indicate Pyongyang is strengthening its capacity for a possible strike.
A defense ministry spokesman says 70 percent of the North’s total submarine fleet – or around 50 vessels – left their bases and disappeared from Seoul’s military radar. North Korea denied setting the devices. “He has the longest history, best idea of what Kim Jong Un and what he’s hoping to get out of it”, Professor David Kang of the University of Southern California’s Korean Studies Institute told CNN.
It was the first high-level dialogue between the Koreas since February 2014, apart from an informal meeting in October after Hwang and other North Korean officials made a surprise decision to attend the Asian Games in the South.
And although the two governments are still technically at war (with last week’s exchange of artillery fire the latest reminder), it does appear that reunification is once again on the minds of some Koreans.
North Koreans read public copy of the daily newspaper at the platform of a subway station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, August 22, 2015.
On the South Korean side are National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo.
Meanwhile, North Korea boasted through its official media Sunday that the country’s enemies would be destroyed in “just one battle” if hostilities resume on the Korean Peninsula. The letters read ” Paju is the hope of the city in South Korea”.
The envoys, proven on TV exchanging handshakes and tight smiles at first of their assembly on Saturday, mentioned methods to resolve rigidity and enhance ties, South Korea’s presidential Blue Home stated in a quick assertion early on Sunday.
The ROK determined that North Korea had planted the mines and, in retaliation, Seoul resumed its propaganda broadcasts near the border.
“We have not seen in decades that many submarines that are simultaneously out of their bases”, the official said.
But both countries remain on high alert.
The official also said that the North had doubled the strength of its front-line artillery forces since the start of the high-level talks early Saturday evening.
Klug reported from Seoul, South Korea.
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The United Nations, the United States and even the North’s key ally, China, have called for calm to reduce the high tensions and potential for further conflict.
