hankyoreh

South and North Korea produced no agreement Friday at their working-level military talks, even on a date for the next meeting, as the North repeated its demand for the redrawing of their western sea border, officials here said.

The Northern Limit Line (NLL), drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the Korean War, serves as the de facto sea border on the peninsula. But North Korea does not recognize it, triggering armed conflicts with the South, especially during crab-catching season.

The South's delegation led by Army Col. Moon Sung-mook aimed to use the one-day talks at the truce village of Panmunjom to discuss ways of preventing clashes near the NLL. Moon's counterpart is Army Col. Pak Rim-su.

"We presented a draft agreement of measures to prevent conflict, while maintaining the NLL, and create a joint fishing area, but the North asked for consultations first on removing the fundamental source of conflict," a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

He said the two sides only exchanged their positions "sufficiently" but failed to narrow differences.

"The two sides agreed to review each other's positions and set a date for the next talks through more consultations," the spokesman said.

The talks came a day after the North fired missiles into waters off its west coast, but the South did not take issue with the provocative action to focus on ways of reducing military tensions.

Friday's meeting was intended to discuss the follow-up measures agreed upon at their general-level talks last month.

SEOUL, June 8 (Yonhap News)