N. Korea, U.N. command to hold additional talks this week

SEOUL, March 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will hold a series of additional meetings this week with the U.S.-led United Nations command as tension mounts along its border with South Korea, officials said Tuesday.

The U.N. command in South Korea is led by an American commander who controls
28,500 U.S. troops to monitor the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
On Monday, North Korea opened the first general-level talks with the U.N. command
in nearly seven years at the borderline village of Panmunjom.
In the meeting that lasted a little more than 30 minutes, the North demanded
South Korea and the U.S. drop their plan to hold a joint annual drill scheduled
for March 9-20, a South Korean official said.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday Pyongyang called
for the removal of the U.N. command during the talks, accusing it of serving as a
disguise for U.S. invasion forces.
North Korea and the U.N. command will hold additional talks on Wednesday and
Friday, a South Korean official who declined to be named said Tuesday.
Kim Yong-kyu, a spokesman for the U.S. Forces Korea, confirmed the talks are
scheduled for this week, but said specific dates have yet to be set.
The meetings come as North Korea escalates regional tensions by preparing to
launch what appears to be a ballistic missile capable of reaching Alaska. The
communist state claims it is readying to launch a satellite.
Pyongyang has also declared void all its past military agreements with Seoul,
warning of an armed clash along their U.N.-drawn western sea border.
North Korea on Saturday condemned the U.S., saying it has increased provocative
moves inside the Demilitarize Zone that cuts across the peninsula. The U.S. said
it has conducted routine monitoring activities.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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