Member states of the United Nations

N. Korea slams South for talks failure

Agence France-PresseJune 13, 2013 04:31

North Korea on Thursday accused South Korea of deliberately sabotaging planned high-level talks with "arrogant obstructions" and warned that prospects for any future dialogue had been severely damaged. The two Koreas had initially agreed to hold their first high-level talks in six years in Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday this week, but they were called off at the last minute following a dispute over protocol. The talks initiative had been seen as a step forward after months of soaring military tensions, but its collapse has instead resulted in a sizeable backwards stride.

Korea immune from U.S. military budget cuts: Pentagon official

Yonhap News AgencyJune 12, 2013 16:33

By Lee Chi-dong WASHINGTON, June 12 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter made clear Wednesday the Pentagon will not cut its spending in Korea despite the so-called sequester, an automatic massive defense budget reduction that took effect on March 1. In a speech at the annual conference of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), he said the Barack Obama administration will not apply sequester to a war in Afghanistan nor to the stationing of around 28,500 troops in South Korea.

Presidential office rejects criticism over cancellation of talks with N. Korea

Yonhap News AgencyJune 12, 2013 09:32

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- The office of President Park Geun-hye bristled strongly at criticism Wednesday that not only North Korea but also the South is to blame for the cancellation of high-level inter-Korean talks. The two sides had been scheduled to open two days of talks in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss, among other issues, resuming joint economic projects, but the talks were called off at the last minute after they failed to reach agreement over the rank of top delegates from each side.

Stalled talks may herald new inter-Korean relations: minister

Yonhap News AgencyJune 12, 2013 08:30

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's unification minister said Wednesday that the stalled inter-Korean talks represent growing pains that will help establish new inter-Korean relations vital for sustainable peace and cooperation. In a meeting with reporters at the Office of South-North Dialogue, a day after the eleventh-hour cancellation of the high-level meeting, Ryoo Kihl-jae claimed the setback is part of the difficult process of establishing cross-border ties.

Korean talks: a familiar vanishing trick

Agence France-PresseJune 12, 2013 06:43

The abrupt cancellation of planned talks between North and South Korea underlines the huge challenges facing any "trust-building" process on the divided peninsula, 60 years after the Korean War. Right from the outset, the agreement to hold what would have been the first high-level dialogue for six years had looked vulnerable -- dogged by disagreement over the agenda and other issues.

No one's picking up in North Korea day after talks with South break down

Thomson ReutersJune 12, 2013 06:30

SEOUL (Reuters) - A day after snubbing Seoul by offering to send a junior official to hold the first supposedly high-level talks between the two Koreas in six years, North Korea appeared to be refusing to pick up a phone line it re-established just last Friday. The unpredictable North had called for talks between the two countries in order to try to reopen a money-spinning joint industrial park that it closed in April after threatening the South with nuclear annihilation.

S. Korea denies blame for scrapped talks with North

Agence France-PresseJune 12, 2013 05:32

South Korea rejected any blame Wednesday for the collapse of planned talks with the North, as businessmen from a closed joint industrial zone complained they were being ruined by politics. North Korea, meanwhile, offered no comment at all on the last-minute cancellation of the dialogue, and refused to answer routine calls from South on a newly-restored inter-government hotline.

Stalled talks may herald new inter-Korean relations: minister

Yonhap News AgencyJune 12, 2013 03:33

Two Koreas should be on par to start talks: S. Korean PM

Yonhap News AgencyJune 12, 2013 03:33

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won called Wednesday for "sincere talks" with North Korea based upon mutual understanding, a day after disputes over the ranks of lead delegates resulted in the cancellation of rare inter-Korean high-level talks. The two sides had been scheduled to open two-day meetings in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss resuming joint economic projects and other issues, but the talks were called off at the last minute after they failed to reach agreement over the ranks of officials to represent each side.

Politicians offer solutions to breakdown in inter-Korean talks

Yonhap News AgencyJune 12, 2013 03:33

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- Politicians from opposing camps on Wednesday offered solutions to revive the now-canceled talks between South and North Korea, a day after they were called off due to disputes over the ranks of chief delegates representing each side. The high-level talks had been scheduled to take place in Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday amid high hopes for a breakthrough in volatile inter-Korean relations. Had they taken place, the talks would have been the first of their kind in six years.