Koreas end high-level talks without agreement

It is the first time in more than six decades that South Korea changed the KADIZ, which was drawn in 1951 by the U.S. Air Force during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The talks focused on the resumption of cross-border tours as well as reunion gatherings of families separated by war. North Korea is facing a financial crisis, and it sees in tourism the chance to alleviate financial strain.

Pyongyang pushed for the resumption of cross-border tours of the Mount Kumgang resort, just north of the demilitarised frontier, which were suspended in 2008 following the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist, according to Hwang.

Earlier in the day, Hong’s ministry publicly called on the North to resume negotiations.

In two days, the South and North Korean delegations, composed of three members each, met over five sessions.

“There is no change in the government’s basic policy to develop South-North ties and lay the foundation for a peaceful reunification by holding open dialogue with the North”, the spokesperson said.

In order to improve the relations, the countries had two rounds of talks, where they agreed to begin a high-level dialogue. This likely dominated out noteworthy discussions on key issues resembling the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The official KCNA news agency said that the Pyongyang side has “made every possible honest effort” and offered “constructive proposals” to tackle some of the most urgent and realisable issues.

Because of South Korea’s position and attitude, it added, the talks ended without anything coming to fruition.

The talks started a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said the country had developed a hydrogen bomb, a claim treated with scepticism by US and South Korean intelligence officials.

North Korea on Saturday blamed Seoul for the breakdown of the vice ministerial level talks. Expectations for the talks on Friday.

Speaking to reporters at the talks venue, Hwang said the North Korean side had insisted on linking the two issues and making a resolution of the Mount Kumgang question a pre-condition for discussing the reunions.