N. Korea proposes military talks with S. Korea amid nuclear deadlock

SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has proposed to South Korea that the two
sides hold working-level military talks next week, an official at the Defense
Ministry said Friday, amid growing concerns over Pyongyang's intentions to resume
nuclear activity.

North Korea's military mission to the truce village of Panmunjom told its South
Korean counterpart that Pyongyang proposed that the two sides "discuss issues
about implementing agreements that have been reached" so far between their
military authorities, said the official, requesting anonymity.
The South has yet to respond to the proposal made on Thursday, the official said.
If accepted, the offer would be the first inter-Korean official dialogue since
conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in February.
The surprise proposal came amid mounting international concern over a
multinational North Korea nuclear disarmament deal, feared to be in danger.
Pyongyang raised tensions this month by announcing it is preparing to restore its
key nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, and saying it no longer expects Washington to
take the communist state from a list of terrorism-supporting countries.
On Thursday, the North told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it
would restart the Yongbyon nuclear plant next week, an IAEA spokeswoman said. The
North also reportedly barred U.N. nuclear inspectors from the nuclear plant.
The North's latest measures were a serious setback for the
aid-for-denuclearization deal signed last year, which also involves South Korea,
the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said earlier in the day, "It is a
difficult situation (in which) the six-way talks may be back to square one,
rather than making progress."
The official from the Defense Ministry said, "The pertinent government functions
are looking into the background of the North's proposal, and are considering
whether to hold the talks."
The two Koreas last held working-level military talks in January. Inter-Korean
relations have since been markedly strained, with Lee urging Pyongyang's
denuclearization and North Korea barring South Koreans' entry to investigate the
July shooting death of a South Korean tourist in the North's Mount Geumgang
resort. The incident led Seoul to suspend all inter-Korean tour programs.
A government official said that what Pyongyang wants to bring to the table is
"not yet clear."
Some watchers suggested that Pyongyang may partly use the dialogue to express
complaints against South Korean officials, who recently made an issue out of
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's health. Kim is recovering from a stroke he
suffered in mid-August, intelligence officials said.
Technical issues, such as operating the agreed upon train cargo service across
the border, could also be one of the agenda items.
"What the North tries to settle in the talks is not yet clear according to the
message," the government official said. "We are thoroughly looking into whether
their intentions are to unilaterally bring out their position on the new
(South's) government's North Korea policy."
In the latest military talks in Seoul in January, the two sides agreed to
continue discussion to resume a regular train cargo service between Munsan and
the North's Bondong, part of the railroad that was severed during the 1950-53
Korean War. The train service was part of an agreement reached in the second
inter-Korean leaders' summit in 2007 to boost inter-Korean economic exchanges.