Asia-Pacific News

North, South Korea humanitarian talks end without results (Roundup)

Oct 16, 2009, 13:22 GMT

Seoul - Delegations from North and South Korea failed Friday reach agreement on further reunions of families separated since the 1950-53 Korean War and other humanitarian issues. According to South Korean Unification Ministry officials, the talks ended without concrete results. Pyongyang demanded unspecified 'humanitarian aid' for agreeing to more reunions, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, quoting a ministry spokeswoman. Seoul agreed to consider the request. Both countries also agreed to hold further talks. South Korea suggested new rounds of family reunions for next month and the lunar New Year in February. A first round of reunions took place in September, following a two-year hiatus. North Korea agreed to the one-day talks, which had been organized by the Red-Cross organizations of both countries, but also test-fired several short-range missiles earlier this week and issued a warning over possible naval clashes. Tensions between the two Koreas had eased recently, following months of escalation, but Pyongyang again struck a more belligerent posture on Thursday, accusing the South of invading its waters. The conservative government in Seoul has frozen it's large-scale food programme for the impoverished Stalinist state in the ongoing dispute over the North's nuclear weapons programme.

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North, South Korea humanitarian talks end without results (Roundup)

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