Not Talking Again
After a year of not talking the political rivals North and South Korea held their first formal talks.
But with disputes over the venue and what to talk about – things did not start well.
Neither did they finish well – after 20 minutes all talk was off again.
The South Korean delegation wanted to see a worker who had been detained in March 2009. This request was refused. The worker had supposedly been denouncing the North’s regime. The North Koreans also demanded that the South Korean companies pay more for operating in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea. Currently, South Korea companies have an arrangement with the North to employ North Koreans under a scheme of inter-korean reconciliation and cooperation. No doubt there are economic advantages in this scheme for both government and business. Not sure that the individuals will be faring too well however since neither north nor south appear to be happy. So much for reconciling and cooperating!
The frustration with North Koreas attitude has grown over the last few weeks with the rocket launch. This launch was seen by the West as a disguised long range missile test by the North Koreans.
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