Koreas' high-level talks stretch into third day

SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- High-level talks between South and North Korea stretched into a third day Monday amid no clear signs of progress in defusing heightened tensions on the divided peninsula. "Tough negotiations between high-level representatives of South and North Korea have been under way for many hours amid the grave security crisis on the Korean Peninsula," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters. The talks involve four top security officials: South Korea's National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin; Hong Yong-pyo, Seoul's point man on Pyongyang; Hwang Pyong-so, the North Korean military's top political officer; and Kim Yang-gon, the top North Korean official in charge of inter-Korean affairs. The presidential spokesman declined to give any further details and asked journalists to not report what he calls "speculative reports," saying every single word in media reports could have a negative effect on the negotiations. The top security officials resumed the talks around 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the border village of Panmunjom, 11 hours after they paused the session to review each other's position. They began the talks on Saturday evening. A key sticking point appears to be South Korea's propaganda broadcasts along the heavily fortified border. South Korea resumed the psychological warfare tactic earlier this month for the first time in 11 years in retaliation against North Korea for a recent land mine attack that maimed two South Korean soldiers. South Korea accused the North of planting the mines inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, a charge denied by North Korea. On Thursday, North Korea gave a 48-hour ultimatum to South Korea to end the propaganda broadcasts and dismantle all loudspeakers, saying it otherwise will launch "strong military action." North Korea also warned Friday that it is prepared to engage in "all-out war." The Pyongyang-set deadline for defusing the crisis passed without a military clash. North Korea views the broadcasts critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as an insult to its dignity. The isolated country is also concerned that an influx of outside information could pose a threat to Kim. South Korea has vowed to keep blaring anti-Pyongyang messages through the loudspeakers. Tensions between the Koreas have risen dramatically since Thursday's exchange of artillery fire. The North fired one artillery shell across the border that afternoon before firing several more rounds later in apparent anger over South Korea's resumption of the propaganda broadcasts. South Korea fired back dozens of shells. The North later claimed that it did not start Thursday's exchange of fire with the South and accused Seoul of fabricating the allegations that the communist nation fired first. (END)