Asia-Pacific

Koreas adopt military agreement

(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-11 20:20

North Korea doesn't recognize the current sea border demarcated by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, and has long claimed it should be further south.

The waters around the border are rich fishing grounds and boats from the two Koreas routinely jostle for position during the May-June crab-catching season. In 1999 and 2002, their navies fought deadly skirmishes, killing several sailors and sinking six ships.

The two sides agreed to hold the next general-level talks in July and continue discussions to set up a defense ministers' meeting, the joint statement said.

This week's talks were the first high-level military contacts between the two sides in a year. The two Koreas remain technically at war because the Korean War ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty.

Ties between the two sides have warmed significantly since the 2000 summit, although they suffered during the international standoff over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Pyongyang conducted its first-ever nuclear test in October, chilling relations with the South.

But the South began reaching out again to the North after Pyongyang agreed in February to shut down its nuclear reactor under an agreement with the United States and four other neighboring countries.

Still, the nation missed an April deadline to close the reactor because of a separate financial dispute with the United States, and it is unclear when it will close down the facility.