South and North Korea end talks without agreement

Mar 2, 2010, 15:38 GMT

Seoul - North Korea Tuesday refused to give details of four South Koreans it allegedly arrested last week, a South Korean official said after inconclusive talks between the two countries.

The talks, which took place in the border town of Kaesong, were supposed to focus on the easing of restrictions on people and goods crossing the border, and the use of internet in North Korea.

On being asked for further information about the detainees, the North Koreans replied that they were still being interrogated, the leader of the South Korean delegation, Lee Kang Woo, said.

North Korean state media reported Friday that the South Koreans had been arrested for illegally crossing the border. No further details about their identities or whereabouts were known.

Pyongyang released American Robert Park at the beginning of February. The missionary was arrested at Christmas for illegally crossing into the country from China.

Park had said beforehand that he wanted to be arrested in order to highlight human rights offences in North Korea.

South Korea's delegation had called on the North to allow the use of mobile phones and internet in South Korean businesses based at a shared industrial complex in Kaesong, Lee said.

North Korea was also asked to increase the amount of time South Korean workers could spend daily at the complex, he added.

Around 40,000 North Koreans work for over 100 South Korean businesses in the complex, producing shoes, watches and clothes.

The talks are due to continue.