South Korea proposes regular trains with North

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

SEOUL, May 30 (Reuters) South Korea proposed the opening of a regular train service with the North at talks that got off to a rough start with Pyongyang calling for the end of US-South Korea military drills and a breach of etiquette.

South Korea wants to build on the success of the first trains that were sent across the border since the 1950-53 Korean War earlier this month on a test run, but progress in the talks may be marred by the North's hold-up on a nuclear disarmament deal.

Export-driven South Korea is hoping to eventually send trains to China and Russia, which could lead to savings in cargo costs.

''We proposed the opening of the railway in phases starting with the segments that are already connected in a way benefits can be mutually shared,'' South Korean Unification Ministry official Ko Gyoung-bin told reporters after the meeting.

The reclusive North agreed to a one-off run of trains across the border in return for some 80 million dollar in aid.

North Korea demanded Seoul halt joint military drills with the United States and scrap an anti-communism law, Ko said.

Analysts said North Korea, which has shown a short fuse at previous inter-Korean meetings, could get irritated if 400,000 tonnes of rice aid pledged by the South is not sent.

The South promised to provide the rice this month but has said it would suspend the aid if its impoverished neighbour behaved badly.

North Korea's firing of a short-range missile last week is likely to have exacerbated tensions between the two states, which remain technically at war.

North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in October, missed a deadline to start shutting its reactor and source of plutonium for bombs as part of a six-way deal it agreed to in February.

At a welcoming banquet yesterday night, a junior North Korean official lit a cigarette while the head of the South's delegation spoke, Yonhap news reported.

It can be considered highly offensive in Korean society to smoke while a senior is speaking.

REUTERS SKB PM1210

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