The two Koreas had their first general-grade military talks today, and while no agreements were hammered out, the two side did agree to take efforts to prevent “accidental” military clashes in the Yellow (West) Sea:
Officials in Seoul said South Korean delegation proposed a package of measures to prevent clashes around the western sea border, including the establishment of a military hotline and the use of the same radio frequencies and flag signals.
North Korea expressed willingness to discuss the proposals further after closely examining them, according to sources.
Of course, we’ll see if the talks yielded any fruit when the blue crab season rears its ugly head next month:
The main topic of the closed-door meeting was focused on joint measures to avoid armed clashes along the poorly marked western sea border where the navies of both sides had bloody gun battles in 1999 and 2002.
The Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto border, has been a source of conflict in recent years as warships of both sides tried to protect their fishing boats operating in the area, which is rich in crabs. North Korea does not recognize the NLL, which was set by the United Nations after the Korean War ended in 1953. It claims that the real border should be moved further south.
