Two Koreas to hold military talks amid tension

PANMUNJOM, South Korea, Oct. 2 (Yonhap) -- Officials from the two Koreas were to meet here in the joint security area inside the demilitarized zone later Thursday in the first military talks between the divided countries since Seoul's incumbent government was inaugurated in February.

South Korean delegates to the bilateral talks were expected to pick up from where
they had left off when the inter-Korean military dialogue were suspended eight
months ago. The talks are largely aimed at addressing security issues related to
allowing freer access to South Korean businesspeople at a joint industrial park
in the North's border town of Kaesong.
Thursday's meeting, set to begin at 10 a.m., is the result of an earlier proposal
by North Korea. The communist nation has not specified an agenda for the talks.
Pyongyang had proposed the military dialogue for Tuesday. Seoul made a
counterproposal to meet Thursday, to which the North agreed in a message sent
Wednesday.
"There have been many rounds of South-North talks in the past, but it is true
that most of them have been one-sided," said Col. Lee Sang-cheol, the chief
delegate to the military talks, implying that the North had often used the venue
simply to make demands or promote its propaganda.
"I will do my utmost to meet the high expectations of our people by facing any
challenges today in a dignified manner," he added.
Lee, who heads the Defense Ministry's North Korea policy bureau, said Seoul has
set its own agenda for Thursday's talks as Pyongyang did not specify any, but
refused to reveal the key issues before the talks began.
The last military talks between the two Koreas were held Jan. 25 of this year.
Pyongyang has since cut off all dialogue channels with Seoul.