By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Colonel-level military officers from South and North Korea met Tuesday to discuss ways of reducing tensions in the West Sea and guaranteeing cross-border economic cooperation, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The one-day meeting took place at Tongilgak, a pavilion on the northern side of the truce village of Panmunjeom, as a follow-up to general-level talks in May, ministry officials said.
During the talks, the two sides agreed to continue talks on pending issues including a joint fishing area in the West Sea and a direct passage of cargo ships across the western sea borderline, Northern Limit Line (NLL). They also agreed to discuss joint developments on the mouth of the Han River.
A working-level meeting last month ended without progress due to differences over the NLL, which the North has rejected.
The NLL, drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the Korean War in 1953, has served as a de facto maritime border between the two Koreas. Disputes over the NLL have caused scores of casualties on both sides.
Army Col. Moon Sung-mook, head of South Korea's three-member delegation, made it clear that the sea borderline is not a matter for discussion.
``Our position is the same, that the two Koreas should take tension-reducing measures to prevent naval clashes in the western waters, while the NLL is maintained,'' Moon told reporters.
Moon's northern counterpart is Army Col. Park Rim-su.