The talks between senior military officers South and North Korea have ended abruptly Wednesday without reaching an agreement, when the delegation from Pyongyang walked out of the meeting, said the South Korean Ministry of Defense.
This meeting between the two neighbors was the first since the deadly bombing in November from an island in South Korea by forces from Pyongyang, which had heightened tensions between the two neighbors.
The delegation from North Korea crossed the border ten minutes after leaving the negotiating table, taking place since yesterday in a border village in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), told AFP spokesman department.
"They did not even try to discuss a future meeting of this kind.Given the current situation, we can say that the talks have failed, "he added.
No official explanation was advanced to explain this sudden departure, according to the spokesman.
An official with the Ministry of Defence, quoted by Yonhap news agency, attributed the failure of the meeting to "differences over the agenda."
According to another official, quoted by YTN television, the atmosphere "was pretty emotional."
South Korea demanded during the meeting that the North apologizes and pledges to punish those responsible for two serious incidents in 2010: the sinking of a corvette South Korean who killed 46 people and the bombing November 23 (4 people including 2 soldiers).
Pyongyang denies being behind the sinking, as acknowledged by an international investigation.As for the bombing, it was undertaken in retaliation for the South Korean military exercises in which shells were fired into the waters of North Korea, said North.
Pyongyang wanted the meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday should make a commitment to "stop all military action could be interpreted as a provocation by the other party".
These talks were also to set the date, place and agenda of an upcoming meeting with high-level contacts, probably the Ministers of Defence.
Wednesday morning, Seoul announced it had agreed to open talks with Pyongyang on the meetings of families separated since the Korean War (1950-1953), under the auspices of the Red Cross.
But Seoul bound these discussions, proposed by Pyongyang, the conclusion of military talks this Wednesday.
