Troop Issue Stalls Reconciliation Talks
Talks aimed at resuming the reconciliation process on the divided Korean peninsula stumbled over the North’s insistence that the South take its military off alert.
The two Koreas met for a sixth round of Cabinet-level dialogue at Diamond Mountain in North Korea with hopes of reviving stalled exchanges, including the reunions of families separated by war half a century ago.
Kim Ryong Song, the North’s head delegate, said his country would not resume exchanges until the South takes its 650,000 troops and 130,000 police off increased alert. They went on alert in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S.
South Korea’s chief delegate, Unification Minister Hong Soon Young, said Seoul’s anti-terrorism precautions were unrelated to the North and urged family reunions to resume.
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