No future Korea military talks planned

The 17th round of inter-Korean ministerial meetings underway on Jeju Island has made little progress, failing to reach an agreement on the date of the next round of high-level military meetings between the two.

On Thursday, the third day of the ministerial-level meetings, the South Korean delegation requested the North to confirm the date of the third round of the inter-Korean generals’ meeting and the whereabouts of South Korean military prisoners and abductees.

North Korea, however, failed to offer concrete answers and instead demanded that the South eliminate its political, military and economic barriers.

With the meeting scheduled to end on Friday, the two parties discussed the issue of putting the date of the next high-level military meeting in the joint statement until late that evening, but failed to reach a consensus.

In the meantime, the South said no to the North’s demand to lift restrictions on tour destinations, saying “This year, more than 80,000 South Koreans visited the North while only 1,030 North Koreans visited the South. So lifting the restrictions on destinations will violate the principle of reciprocity.”

Myoung-Gun Lee gun43@donga.com