Koreas' militaries hold 1st talks since missiles

Seoul, Oct 2: Senior military officers from South and North Korea met today for the first time since relations soured in July after Pyongyang defied international warnings to test-fire a series of missiles.

The meeting, proposed by the North, took place at the truce village on the heavily fortified border that has divided the two Koreas for more than half a centruy.

It comes as the international community tries to pressure North Korea to return to six-country talks to negotiate an end to its nuclear weapons programme.

Pyongayang quit the talks almost a year ago, refusing to return until the United States ends a financial crackdown on North Korean offshore bank accounts which analysts say is hurting the reclusive Pyongyang government.

A South Korean Defence Ministry official said colonels leading the two delegations were expected to discuss ways to implement two-year-old agreements aimed at cutting military tension on the Korean peninsula, divided by one of the world's most heavily fortified borders.

Political ties between the two Koreas have improved in the past six years, but militarily they remain at a tense standoff under the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. No peace treaty has ever been signed.

North Korea has stepped up criticism of South Korea in recent weeks, saying ''bellicose forces'' in Seoul were colluding with the United States to wage war against the North.

The North's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun today said South Korea's planned deployment of a new cruise missile capable of hitting almost all of North Korea was ''a grave criminal act designed to rain the calamity of war on the nation.''

REUTERS