No Agreement Reached at Inter-Korean Military Meeting

The last round of 6th general level military talks between North and South Korea was held at the Peace Village, an extension of the Truce Village in Panmunjeom, on July 26. The meeting ended in vain due to the North’s refusal to budge on redefining the border in the West Sea.

The South wanted to reach an agreement with the North by holding a general meeting in the morning. However, the North did not give up their stance on redefining the border line, declaring the end of the meeting only after two hours and leaving no word on a future meeting.

Mun Seong-buk, director of North Korea policy team at the Korea Defense Ministry, said that, “The two sides had a huge gap in their position over the West Sea Limit Line (NLL) and joint fishing zone. The communist country said that it would not discuss the issue without a change in position from the South, making further negotiations impossible.”

Starting from July 24, the meeting has been held for three days beginning in the morning and finishing in the evening. The North had preconditioned rearranging the West Sea NLL, which has been claimed as illegal by the North. Regarding the joint fishing zone, the South insisted that the zone should be centered on Baengnyeong Island and the Jangsan Formation. But the North showed its unwillingness to negotiate by holding on to its stance that it should be below the NLL where Yeonpyeong and West Sea naval clashes occurred in 1999 and 2002, respectively.

ysh1005@donga.com