N. Korea, U.N. Command to hold 2nd talks on ship sinking next week

SEOUL/BEIJING, July 16 Kyodo -
North Korea and the U.S.-led United Nations Command agreed Thursday to hold a
second round of colonel-level talks around Tuesday to advance discussions on
the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship last March, the North's state
media said.
The U.N. Command said after a one-day colonel-level meeting between the North
Korean People's Army and the UNC's Military Armistice Commission, or UNCMAC,
that the two sides agreed to work toward holding general-level talks on the
incident, which has been blamed on Pyongyang.
''Both sides agreed to confirm the details of the proposed follow-on talks
after consulting with their respective superiors,'' according to a statement
issued at the end of the first round of talks at the truce village of
Panmunjeom.
The North's Korean Central News Agency said the two sides agreed to hold a
second round of colonel-level talks ''in Panmunjeom around July 20'' to pave
the way for general-level talks.
Thursday's meeting, which lasted for about one and a half hours, was the first
between the two sides since the March 26 sinking of the 1,200-ton corvette
Cheonan, which left 46 sailors dead.
The North Korean army repeated Pyongyang's position that a field investigation
by a team of the National Defense Commission, or NDC, ''should take place first
under any circumstances in order to probe the truth behind the case,'' KCNA
said.
North Korea ''will closely follow how the U.S. forces side will handle the
issue of the NDC inspection group's field investigation,'' KCNA quoted the
North's army side as saying.
''It is elementary practice for the parties concerned to conduct investigation
before handling a case at the talks,'' it said.
At the talks, the U.N. Command side was led by U.S. Army Col. Kurt Taylor of
the UNCMAC secretariat, while the North Korean side was led by Col. Pak Ki
Yong, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
The meeting stemmed from a UNC proposal on June 26 to hold the consultations in
advance of general officer talks to discuss whether the sinking of the Cheonan
violated the Korean Armistice Agreement that effectively ended the 1950-1953
Korean War.
UNCMAC is responsible for supervising the implementation of the truce and for
providing a mechanism to negotiate alleged violations.
In May, a Seoul-led panel of investigators from five countries concluded that a
North Korean torpedo caused the sinking of the Cheonan near the disputed
maritime border with North Korea in the Yellow Sea.
North Korea, however, has insisted it had nothing to do with the incident.
South Korea then referred the case to the U.N. Security Council, which last
Friday issued a presidential statement condemning the attack as ''an incident
that endangers peace and security in the region and beyond.''
While stopping short of directly blaming North Korea, it mentioned the results
of the international investigation of the attack that found the North
responsible. It also warned against any further attacks and insisted on full
adherence to the Korean Armistice Agreement.
Separate from the multinational probe, a UNC Special Investigation Team,
consisting of 15 members from nine nations, was formed on May 21 to investigate
the available evidence to determine whether the sinking violated the armistice
agreement, but the results of that probe have not been released.
Since 1998, the UNC and North Korea have held the general-level talks as a
channel to ease tensions. If the two sides agree to hold such talks again, it
will be the 17th of its kind, according to Yonhap.
==Kyodo