Text fwd: NK Proposes Inter-Korean Military Talks Be Held March 2

Korea Times
02-22-2010 20:32
NK Proposes Inter-Korean Military Talks Be Held March 2
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

North Korea proposed Monday that inter-Korean military talks be held March 2 to discuss cross-border traffic, communications and customs clearance for South Korean companies operating at a joint industrial complex in the North.

South Korea had proposed holding working-level military talks with North Korea on Feb. 23 to discuss those issues at the truce village of Panmunjeom.

In a counter proposal sent to Seoul by fax, Pyongyang requested that the talks take place next Tuesday at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, a spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense said.

It is the first time North Korea has requested that inter-Korean military talks be held at the Gaeseong complex.

"We're considering whether or not to accept the offer," ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters.

If held, the talks will be the first meeting of military officials from the two Koreans since October 2008.

The South has demanded that Pyongyang ease restrictions concerning communications, customs clearance and the passage of South Korean workers to and from the Gaeseong complex, where some 110 South Korean firms employ about 42,000 North Korean workers.

The impoverished North, which relies on outside aid to feed its 24 million people, has made several attempts to reach out to the South since last summer in an about-face that analysts say shows the regime is feeling the pain of U.N. sanctions imposed for its nuclear test in May last year.

Still, the North has been reluctant to accept the South's requests for easier access to the complex and other measures aimed at boosting its competitiveness because the regime is concerned that such moves could shake its hold over the reclusive nation.

Pyongyang has also called for pay raises for its workers at the complex. The minimum monthly wage for a North Korean worker remains less than $58.

Tensions between the countries have recently increased with North Korea conducting artillery drills for three consecutive days last month.

Analysts say that Pyongyang's provocative acts may be part of an attempt to highlight the necessity of a peace treaty to replace the 1953 Korean War armistice, one of its key preconditions for its return to the six-party talks that are aimed at ending its nuclear programs.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr