N. Korea, U.N. command open talks on easing border tension

SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea and the United Nations Command (UNC) began
general-level talks Monday on easing tensions running high around the
inter-Korean border, a defense source said.

The talks held at the truce village of Panmunjom come at the request of the North
Korean military, the source said.
"The talks this time have been arranged as the United Nations Command accepted
North Korea's proposal made through a fax message on Feb. 28," the source said.
"North Korea asked for discussions on easing military tensions."
The UNC is in charge of monitoring the 1953 armistice that ended the
three-year-long Korean War (1950-1953).
Pyongyang has accused the multilateral command led by the United States of
provocations.
In a statement carried by its official news agency, the Korean Central News
Agency (KCNA), the North claimed that the U.S. troops "approached as close as 20
meters from the Military Demarcation Line in the area under the control of the
North and the South in the western region and took photographs of a post of the
DPRK (North Korea) side."
lcd@yna.co.kr
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