Inter-Korean talks adjourned after exchange of positions on Kaesong

SEOUL, June 11 (Yonhap) -- Officials of South and North Korea exchanged their
positions over a joint industrial park in rare talks on Thursday morning, but it
was not certain whether the meeting would resume in the afternoon, a Seoul
spokesman said.

The two sides began talks at the joint park in the North's border town of Kaesong
at 10:40 a.m. and exchanged their keynote speeches for about 50 minutes before
adjourning, said Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung.
"At this moment, whether the talks would resume in the afternoon was not decided
yet," Chun said.
South Korea raised the issue of a detained worker, and North Korea presented "its
position over pressing issues of the joint park," he said.
The official said he could not say whether North Korea agreed to discuss the
detained worker and what its demands are.
"We have yet to receive word from there (the delegation). We have to see the
situation in the afternoon," ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said.
The rare meeting, held some 50 days after the first talks ended bitterly after
less than 30 minutes, comes as border tensions remain high. North Korea has been
threatening naval clashes along the Yellow Sea border with South Korea and has
been holding the South Korean worker from Hyundai Asan Corp. since March,
accusing him of a "dishonest hostile act" against the communist regime.
The joint venture, just an hour's drive from Seoul, is the last remaining
inter-Korean venture hosting 106 South Korean manufacturers.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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