N. Korea cancels meet with UN
Source: Agencies |
July 14, 2010, Wednesday
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NORTH Korea's military abruptly canceled a rare meeting yesterday with the American-led UN Command that had been arranged to discuss the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on Pyongyang.
Military officers from North Korea and the UN Command were to meet at the Korean border village of Panmunjom yesterday morning to discuss the sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. It would have been the first such meeting since the sinking, which sharply raised tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.
North Korea requested a delay in the talks for "administrative reasons," the UN Command said in a statement. A new meeting time was not immediately proposed.
An international investigation in May concluded that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the 1,200-ton Cheonan near the tense Korean sea border in late March. Pyongyang flatly denies it was responsible and has warned any punishment would trigger war.
The UN Command, which oversees an armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953, separately investigated whether the sinking violated the truce, though the findings have not been disclosed.
Late last month, the command proposed military talks with North Korea to review its findings and initiate dialogue.
North Korea first rejected the offer, criticizing the US for trying to meddle in inter-Korean affairs under the name of the UN. But it reversed its position last week and proposed working-level talks at Panmunjom to prepare for higher-level talks by general officers on the sinking.
The North Korean military's request means it feels it wasn't sufficiently prepared for the meeting, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean studies.
"They may have yet to get Kim Jong Il's approval for their strategy on the talks," he said, referring to the country's leader.
Yang, who expects a meeting to eventually take place, said it will serve a "symbolic" purpose as a venue where North Korea and the US can engage in dialogue.
North Korea and the UN Command launched general-level talks in 1998 as a measure to lessen tension between the sides. A new round would be the 17th of their kind, said the UN Command.
Military officers from North Korea and the UN Command were to meet at the Korean border village of Panmunjom yesterday morning to discuss the sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. It would have been the first such meeting since the sinking, which sharply raised tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.
North Korea requested a delay in the talks for "administrative reasons," the UN Command said in a statement. A new meeting time was not immediately proposed.
An international investigation in May concluded that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the 1,200-ton Cheonan near the tense Korean sea border in late March. Pyongyang flatly denies it was responsible and has warned any punishment would trigger war.
The UN Command, which oversees an armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953, separately investigated whether the sinking violated the truce, though the findings have not been disclosed.
Late last month, the command proposed military talks with North Korea to review its findings and initiate dialogue.
North Korea first rejected the offer, criticizing the US for trying to meddle in inter-Korean affairs under the name of the UN. But it reversed its position last week and proposed working-level talks at Panmunjom to prepare for higher-level talks by general officers on the sinking.
The North Korean military's request means it feels it wasn't sufficiently prepared for the meeting, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean studies.
"They may have yet to get Kim Jong Il's approval for their strategy on the talks," he said, referring to the country's leader.
Yang, who expects a meeting to eventually take place, said it will serve a "symbolic" purpose as a venue where North Korea and the US can engage in dialogue.
North Korea and the UN Command launched general-level talks in 1998 as a measure to lessen tension between the sides. A new round would be the 17th of their kind, said the UN Command.
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