Agence France-Presse,
PANMUNJOM, Korea: Military officers from North and South Korea engaged in a shoving match and a war of words Thursday over their disputed sea border, on the second day of talks dominated by the thorny issue.
The general-level talks at the frontier truce village of Panmunjom aim to make security arrangements so that proposed joint economic projects including a shared fishing area can go ahead.
But the row over the Yellow Sea border known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which caused the breakdown of the last round in July, surfaced again.
The shared area is designed to avoid further clashes following bloody naval battles in 1999 and 2002.
North Korea wants it sited south of the sea border, which it refuses to recognise. The South says it should straddle the NLL, which was drawn unilaterally by United Nations forces after the 1950-53 war.
On Thursday, the South took issue with attempts by a North Korean officer to show a slide displaying the North's proposal to reporters.
A South Korean naval officer rushed over and stopped the North Korean, triggering an argument, according to an AFP pool reporter at the talks.
The North Korean tried to push the South Korean away but the Southern officer refused to budge and managed to stop the slide being displayed.
The North's chief delegate, Lieutenant-General Kim Yong-Chol, then launched an angry attack on his counterpart over the way Seoul is handling the talks.
In a press release late Wednesday, the South Korean defence ministry said North Korea agreed to allow South Korean workers and tourists to use the Internet and wired and wireless telephone services at two major inter-Korean joint ventures areas — the Kaesong industrial complex just north of the border and the Mount Kumgang resort on the east coast.
The North also agreed to simplify customs checks for South Korean visitors, and expand the hours their military border would be open, according to the ministry.
Kim said South Korea was publicising what it wanted its people to know, while keeping more important issues secret.
The North wants full media coverage of the talks. South Korean officials resist this, saying Kim wants to use the press to highlight demands for a new sea border.
“Our side accepted your demands out of goodwill, but your side refused to do so (accept our demands),” Kim said. “Your side should apologise. We cannot expect any results since your side does not trust us.”
He told his counterpart Major General Lee Hong-Kee: “You should have taken the interests of a group into consideration, not your personal interests. This must not happen at upcoming talks… all those who watched the scene are angry.”
Lee responded that both sides had narrowed differences on border crossing, communications and customs and voiced “regret” over Kim's remarks. He also called for an apology from the other side.
At a rare inter-Korean summit in October the two sides agreed in principle on a variety of sweeping joint economic projects. On Tuesday, they launched a regular train service across their fortified border for the first time in more than 50 years.
But another major project — a “peace zone” encompassing a joint economic zone around the North's Haeju city — cannot go ahead until there is a deal on the fishing area and the border.
Talks were expected to go late into the evening. They wind up on Friday.
