Inter-Korean talks fail to agree on more family reunions

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-16 22:40

SEOUL: Inter-Korean talks that were held to seek for holding more family reunions ended without reaching an agreement on Friday, Seoul's officials said.

"In conclusion, the two Koreas failed to narrow differences on their stances with respect to further reunions," an official at the ministry said.

Although the meeting ended without any concrete agreements, the two sides promised to consult one another for future Red Cross talks, the official added.

During the meeting arranged by Red Cross offices from both sides, South Korea proposed to hold new rounds of reunions next month and again around Lunar New Year's Day in February.

On the other hand, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is known to have requested further humanitarian aid from South Korea.

"We told them that we will review it after returning back," the official told the press.

Friday's meeting, which followed the latest round of family reunions in late September, was held between the two sides working-level officials in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong.

South Korean Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said Thursday that the meeting will deal with "various issues" related to cross- border exchanges.

When asked by whether Seoul has any plan to resume rice aid after the talks, he said, "we will decide depending on the developments," hinting at a softened inter-Korean policy stance of the Lee Myung-bak regime.

Despite of its test-firing short-range missiles and warnings of a naval clash in the Yellow Sea earlier this week, the DPRK started to show warmer gestures towards South Korea, apologizing Wednesday for its abrupt dam release on September 6 which led to the deaths of six South Korean campers.