Two Koreas End Defense Talks, Vow to Work for Peace
September 27, 2000 - 0:0
CHEJU, South Korea Defense ministers from South and North Korea ended their first ever talks on Tuesday vowing to work for peace, but substantive military issues failed to be broached, officials said.
"Both sides agreed that easing military tension and building a lasting and durable peace on the peninsula is essential," a joint statement said.
But several issues proposed by South Korea ahead of the talks, including the establishment of a military hotline, joint notification of troop movements and the granting of observation rights for major military exercises were not discussed.
"The South had proposed those topics at the outset but the Northern side refused to discuss such issues this time," said a spokesman for South Korea's Ministry of National Defense.
"You can't expect much from the first meeting of the defense chiefs. Issues of mutual concern could be discussed later when the two sides feel more comfortable with each other." During the two-day meeting on the resort Island of Cheju, South Korean Defense Minister Cho Sung-Tae and the North's Kim Il-Chol agreed to work towards a durable peace for the divided Korean Peninsula and for their next meeting to be held in November in North Korea.
As expected, the talks focused on a plan to build a rail and road link across the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) that has separated the two countries since the 1950-53 Korean War was ended in an armed truce.
Agreement was reached to allow construction personnel and equipment to move within the DMZ and to hold a working-level meeting in early October to discuss cooperation on such issues as the removal of landmines.
An estimated one million landmines are planted in the four-km (2.5 mile) wide DMZ which stretches along the 242 km (151 mile) border between the long-term foes.
The road and rail project is one of several initiatives undertaken since June's summit, where South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung and the North's leader Kim Jong-Il agreed to increase exchanges as a way of ending their half century of confrontation.
(Reuter)
"Both sides agreed that easing military tension and building a lasting and durable peace on the peninsula is essential," a joint statement said.
But several issues proposed by South Korea ahead of the talks, including the establishment of a military hotline, joint notification of troop movements and the granting of observation rights for major military exercises were not discussed.
"The South had proposed those topics at the outset but the Northern side refused to discuss such issues this time," said a spokesman for South Korea's Ministry of National Defense.
"You can't expect much from the first meeting of the defense chiefs. Issues of mutual concern could be discussed later when the two sides feel more comfortable with each other." During the two-day meeting on the resort Island of Cheju, South Korean Defense Minister Cho Sung-Tae and the North's Kim Il-Chol agreed to work towards a durable peace for the divided Korean Peninsula and for their next meeting to be held in November in North Korea.
As expected, the talks focused on a plan to build a rail and road link across the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) that has separated the two countries since the 1950-53 Korean War was ended in an armed truce.
Agreement was reached to allow construction personnel and equipment to move within the DMZ and to hold a working-level meeting in early October to discuss cooperation on such issues as the removal of landmines.
An estimated one million landmines are planted in the four-km (2.5 mile) wide DMZ which stretches along the 242 km (151 mile) border between the long-term foes.
The road and rail project is one of several initiatives undertaken since June's summit, where South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung and the North's leader Kim Jong-Il agreed to increase exchanges as a way of ending their half century of confrontation.
(Reuter)