SEOUL, May 19 (UPI) -- Inter-Korean talks ended Thursday without an agreement on the main sticking point -- North Korea's return to multilateral talks on its nuclear weapons.
A joint statement issued at the end of the four-day talks cited agreement on sending ministerial-level delegations to Pyongyang June 15 to mark the fifth anniversary of a joint declaration, holding the 15th round of South ministerial-level talks June 21-24 in Seoul and on South Korea supplying the North with 200,000 tons of fertilizer starting May 21 to mark the beginning of farming season.
There was no mention of the nuclear issue.
The vice ministerial-level meeting, which opened at the North's border city of Kaesong Monday, was scheduled to end Tuesday but was extended for a day after a one-day break. It was the first official inter-Korean dialogue in 10 months.
Although no deal was reached on nuclear talks, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo confirmed U.S. officials met with North Korean U.N. officials in New York last Friday to argue for a return to multiparty talks.
