SEOUL, May 18 (UPI) -- Three days of inter-Korean military talks ended Thursday with no progress on reducing tensions across the heavily armed border, officials said.
Top-ranking officers from the two sides failed to issue a joint statement at end of talks held at the truce village of Panmunjom. They also failed to set a date for a next round of talks.
The talks were deadlocked over differences over the western sea border in which the two Koreas traded naval gunfire which left dozens of casualties on both sides years ago.
The North's delegates demanded the inter-Korean maritime border redrawn south of the Northern Limit Line, which has served as a border since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, before discussing any other military matters.
Seoul said the North's proposal can be discussed at talks between the countries' defense ministers, while calling for the North to ensure the safe operation of cross-border railways which are to be opened.
But the North Korean military refused to sign an agreement on train operations as they were concerned about possible leakage of military information, officials said.
"We were not able to narrow the gap in our positions, as North Korea persisted in discussions of redrawing the sea border in the West (Yellow) Sea," said Col. Moon Sung-mook, deputy chief of the South Korean delegation.
