By Kim Young-jin
Staff reporter
The U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) appears set to meet with North Korean military officials Tuesday to discuss the sinking of the warship Cheonan, a Seoul official said Sunday.
Pyongyang proposed the working-level contact between colonels of the two sides at the border village of Panmunjom on Friday to prepare for general-level talks about the March sinking of the vessel.
The move was an about face from Pyongyang’s rejection in June of an offer by the UNC to hold military talks. In the proposed talks the UNC hopes to explain the outcome of the multinational investigation that implicated the North in the torpedoing of the Cheonan near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border.
"Chances are high that the North-UNC meeting will take place," a senior South Korean defense official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency. "A working-level meeting could be held on July 13 as proposed by the North or it could be scheduled for a later date than that."
The North, in rejecting the initial UNC offer, demanded that the South allow a team of North Korean inspectors to verify the results of the international investigation. Seoul rejected the idea amid escalating tensions on the peninsula.
Pyongyang has repeatedly denied involvement in the sinking, calling the investigation results fabrications.
On Friday, the U.N. Security Council adopted a presidential statement that implied Pyongyang's responsibility for the sinking but fell short of directly laying blame. It also called for the resumption of diplomatic efforts to resolve outstanding issues on the peninsula.
North Korea on Saturday called the statement "devoid of any proper judgment and conclusion," but said it will "make consistent efforts for the conclusion of a peace treaty and denuclearization" through six-party negotiations on the country's nuclear programs.