S. Korea propose military talks with the North

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SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea proposed to North Korea on Friday that
working-level military officials meet later this month to discuss restrictions
hindering transportation and communications in and out of a joint factory park in
the North, defense officials said.
Seoul has long demanded that Pyongyang ease restrictions concerning customs
clearance, passage of South Korean workers and communications in and out of the
border complex in Kaesong, where some 110 South Korean firms employ 42,000 North
Korean workers.
"We have proposed to the North that talks be held on Feb. 23 at the House of
Peace near Panmunjom," said Won Tae-jae, spokesman for Seoul's defense ministry.
The House of Peace is located on the South Korean side of the truce village of
Panmunjom, inside the Demilitarized Zone.
In an unusual move, Pyongyang, which has been reluctant to formally embrace South
Korea's demands concerning the border transit, was the first to propose the
military talks on Jan. 26. Seoul had asked to schedule the talks after the two
sides finish negotiations on steps to restart the suspended cross-border tours,
which ended without a concrete outcome Monday.
"We look forward to a positive answer as it was the North which first asked to
hold the military talks," spokesman Won told reporters.
The impoverished North, which relies on outside aid to feed its 24 million
people, has tried to reach out to the South since last summer in an about-face
that analysts say shows the regime is feeling the pain of U.N. sanctions slapped
for its nuclear test in May last year.
Still, the North has been reluctant to accept South Korea's requests for an
easier access into Kaesong and other measures aimed at boosting the park's
competitiveness, as the regime is concerned such moves could shake the stability
of the reclusive nation.
Dismissing the issues over the border transit as unessential, Pyongyang has first
demanded pay raises for its workers. The minimum monthly wage for a North Korean
worker remains slightly less than US$58 currently.
North Korea has also been raising military tensions with the South, firing
artillery shells for three days in a row last month. Analysts say that
Pyongyang's provocative gesture may be part of its attempt to highlight the
necessity of a peace treaty to replace the 1953 Korean War armistice, one of the
North's key preconditions for its return to the international nuclear talks.
North Korea, which operates a military of 1.2 million troops, is believed to
possess enough plutonium to build at least six atomic bombs.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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