ID :
49016
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 07:09
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/49016
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea, U.S.-led U.N. Command to hold additional talks before weekend: officials By Sam Kim
SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will return to border talks with the U.S.-led United Nations Command on Thursday to discuss measures to temper rising tension on the Korean Peninsula, officials said.
In the first talks with a U.S. general from the U.N. Command in over six years,
North Korea demanded Monday that the U.S. and South Korea cancel their March 9-20
Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drill, branding the joint annual exercise as a
precursor to invasion.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53
Korean War that ended in a cease-fire, monitored by the U.N. Command that is
headed by an American general.
"Colonel-level talks will take place at the village of Panmunjom on Thursday
morning," a South Korean defense ministry official said, speaking on customary
condition of anonymity.
The official, who declined to elaborate on the agenda, said talks will continue
Friday, with generals from both sides convening at the border truce village. The
U.S. Forces Korea confirmed the schedule.
Kwak Yong-hun will represent the North Korean side, while U.S. Army Col. Kurt
Taylor will be his counterpart on Thursday, the official said. Taylor is
secretary of the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission.
The meetings come as Pyongyang appears to be preparing to a test-fire a ballistic
missile capable of reaching Alaska.
The North claims it will launch a rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but Japan
plans to deploy an advanced destroyer loaded with a missile interceptor, Kyodo
reported.
The U.S. has urged North Korea to stop the preparations, while South Korea has
threatened sanctions.
Pyongyang has declared all past inter-Korean military agreements void and cut off
dialogue with Seoul after President Lee Myung-bak took office in South Korea with
a pledge to get tough on North Korea.
North Korea also condemned the U.S. recently, saying its troops have increased
provocative moves inside the Demilitarized Zone. The U.S. says it is conducting
routine monitoring activities.
North Korea routinely lashes out at joint South Korea-U.S. defense drills that
focus on the abilities of the longtime allies to quickly reinforce frontline
forces should Pyongyang invade.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that the U.S. is
immersed in "war hysteria" that "reveals the bellicose nature of the Key Resolve
and Foal Eagle to attack the DPRK," the acronym for the North's official name,
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea demands that the U.N. Command, which is solely backed by the U.S.
Forces Korea, be removed, claiming it serves as a cover for U.S. hostilities.
Pyongyang remains deadlocked with Washington in multilateral nuclear disarmament
talks as it refuses to endorse a U.S. proposal aimed at inspecting its past
atomic programs.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
In the first talks with a U.S. general from the U.N. Command in over six years,
North Korea demanded Monday that the U.S. and South Korea cancel their March 9-20
Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drill, branding the joint annual exercise as a
precursor to invasion.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53
Korean War that ended in a cease-fire, monitored by the U.N. Command that is
headed by an American general.
"Colonel-level talks will take place at the village of Panmunjom on Thursday
morning," a South Korean defense ministry official said, speaking on customary
condition of anonymity.
The official, who declined to elaborate on the agenda, said talks will continue
Friday, with generals from both sides convening at the border truce village. The
U.S. Forces Korea confirmed the schedule.
Kwak Yong-hun will represent the North Korean side, while U.S. Army Col. Kurt
Taylor will be his counterpart on Thursday, the official said. Taylor is
secretary of the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission.
The meetings come as Pyongyang appears to be preparing to a test-fire a ballistic
missile capable of reaching Alaska.
The North claims it will launch a rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but Japan
plans to deploy an advanced destroyer loaded with a missile interceptor, Kyodo
reported.
The U.S. has urged North Korea to stop the preparations, while South Korea has
threatened sanctions.
Pyongyang has declared all past inter-Korean military agreements void and cut off
dialogue with Seoul after President Lee Myung-bak took office in South Korea with
a pledge to get tough on North Korea.
North Korea also condemned the U.S. recently, saying its troops have increased
provocative moves inside the Demilitarized Zone. The U.S. says it is conducting
routine monitoring activities.
North Korea routinely lashes out at joint South Korea-U.S. defense drills that
focus on the abilities of the longtime allies to quickly reinforce frontline
forces should Pyongyang invade.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that the U.S. is
immersed in "war hysteria" that "reveals the bellicose nature of the Key Resolve
and Foal Eagle to attack the DPRK," the acronym for the North's official name,
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea demands that the U.N. Command, which is solely backed by the U.S.
Forces Korea, be removed, claiming it serves as a cover for U.S. hostilities.
Pyongyang remains deadlocked with Washington in multilateral nuclear disarmament
talks as it refuses to endorse a U.S. proposal aimed at inspecting its past
atomic programs.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
