N. Korea, U.N. command resume high-level talks on border tension

(ATTN: CHANGES headline; UPDATES throughout with UNC's statement, other details)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) -- Two-star generals from North Korea and the U.S.-led
United Nations Command (UNC) on Monday resumed talks on reducing border tension
after a seven-year hiatus, the UNC said, following recent severe accusations
against frontline U.S. troops.

"United Nations Command and North Korean officials are conducting general
officer-level talks from 10 a.m. at Panmunjom," the UNC said in a news release.
"North Korea requested this meeting to discuss tension reduction on the Korean
Peninsula."
Panmunjom is an inter-Korean truce village and is considered one of the last
vestiges of the Cold War.
The UNC views the North's proposal as "positive," it said, adding the talks can
be useful in "building trust and preventing misunderstanding as well as
introducing transparency regarding the intentions of both sides."
This is the first time the two sides have sat at the Panmunjom table since 2002.
The UNC monitors the 1953 armistice that ended the three-year-long Korean War. It
is currently commanded by Gen. Walter Sharp, who doubles as chief of the 28,500
U.S. troops here.
A UNC official said Maj. Gen. Johnny A. Weida, deputy chief of staff for the
UNC, is heading the UNC delegation which also includes a South Korean military
officer. He did not provide other details such as who Weida's North Korean
counterpart would be or when Monday's negotiations will end.
"After the talks finish, we will inform you of the results," he said.
Pyongyang has accused the multilateral command led by the United States of
"undisguised provocations and violations by the U.S. troops in the areas along
the Military Demarcation Line."
In a statement carried during the weekend by the North's state-run Korean Central
News Agency, Pyongyang claimed that U.S. troops recently "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."
"The South side should never forget that the Korean People's Army is keeping
itself fully ready for all-out confrontation," it said.
North Korea, which is reportedly preparing for a long-range missile launch from a
base on its east coast, has in recent months churned out threats of an imminent
armed clash with South Korea.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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