Generals from rival Koreas end talks with no agreement
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Rare general-level talks between the two Koreas ended with no agreement Tuesday, but the top delegates said they had a meaningful discussion on easing their countries’ decades-long military standoff.
Experts said it was still unclear whether the rivals can reach any breakthrough agreement on reducing tensions in the near future because South Korea, in close consultations with the United States, must link any expansion of ties to progress in North Korea’s nuclear disarmament.
The Washington Post reported Monday that U.S. intelligence agencies have obtained evidence that indicates North Korea is building new long-range missiles despite ongoing disarmament talks with the United States. It cited anonymous officials “familiar with the intelligence” as saying that work on at least one and possibly two intercontinental ballistic missiles was underway.
Tuesday’s meeting at the Koreas’ shared border village of Panmunjom was the second such high-level military contact since the two countries’ leaders held a landmark summit in April and pledged to reduce the danger of another war on the peninsula.