개성공단에서 11~12일 열린 제1차 차관급 남북 당국회담이 양측의 합의사항이 담긴 공동보도문을 발표하지 못한 것은 물론 다음 회담 일정도 잡지 못한 채 종료됐다.
합의사항 없이 차기 회담 일정도 잡지 못하고 당국회담이 종료됨에 따라 이번 회담은 결렬된 것으로 평가된다.
남측 수석대표인 황부기 통일부 차관은 12일 회담 종료 직후 개성공단 종합지원센터에서 공동취재단과 가진 언론브리핑에서 "남북은 11~12일 이틀간 개성공단에서 제1차 남북당국회담을 개최해 남북관계 개선 위한 현안 문제를 협의했으나 합의에 이르지 못했다"고 밝혔다.
황 차관은 "우리 정부는 '8·25 합의'를 이행해 남북관계를 안정적으로 발전시킨다는 입장에서 원칙을 견지하면서 진지하게 협상에 임했다"며 "우리측은 전면적 생사확인, 서신교환 등 이산가족 문제 근본적 해결, 환경·민생·문화 등 3대 통로 개설, 비무장지대(DMZ) 세계생태평화공원 조성, 개성공단 3통 문제 등을 중점 제기했다"고 전했다.
이어 "북측은 금강산 관광 문제 집중 제기하면서 이산가족 문제와 연계시켜 동시 추진, 동시 이행을 주장하고, 금강산 관광 재개에 대한 합의를 우선적으로 요구했다"고 설명했다.
황 차관은 "우리측은 인도적 문제인 이산가족 문제와 금강산 관광 재개 문제는 그 성격이 다른 사안으로 이를 연계하는 것은 부적절하다는 입장을 강조했다"며 "아울러 금강산 관광 재개를 위해선 북측이 관광객 신변안전과 재발방지, 재산권 회복 등 책임있는 조치 취하는 것이 선행돼야 하는 만큼 먼저 금강산 관광 실무회담을 개최해 이러한 문제들을 협의할 것을 제안했다"고 밝혔다.
<관련 영문 기사>
Koreas end high-level talks without agreement
South and North Korea ended rare high-level talks Saturday without producing any agreement on mending ties, Seoul officials said, casting a cloud over inter-Korean ties.
The two Koreas failed to set the date for further talks at the two-day vice-ministerial meeting held at a joint industrial park in the North's city of Kaesong, according to the officials.
The rival Koreas' move to extend the talks from the day before was seen as efforts to revive long-dormant dialogue channel, but they failed to narrow gaps on their stances over key contentious issues -- the reunions of families torn apart by the 1950-53 Korean War and the resumption of a suspended joint tour program at Mount Kumgang in the North.
Vice Unification Minister Hwang Boo-gi, Seoul's chief delegate, said that the South Korean government has placed its priority on resolving the issue of separated families, one of the most pressing humanitarian issues.
But the North pressed the South to reopen the tour program in exchange, rejecting Seoul's offer for separate working-level talks to discuss the issue, he added.
"We stressed that it is not proper to connect the issue of separated families to the resumption of the tour," Hwang told a group of reporters in the North's city.
Holding the high-level meeting was a key element of the inter-Korean agreement on Aug. 25 to ease tension and promote more civilian exchanges following a border land-mine explosion blamed on the North in early August. Two South Korean soldiers were maimed in the incident.
The August deal set the stage for the two Koreas to sit down for dialogue, but North Korea's nuclear and missile test threats have served as negative factors for better inter-Korean ties.
North Korea passed the buck to South Korea over the talks' results, taking issue with Seoul's attitude.
"The South has refused to discuss basic topics such as the resumption of the Mount Kumgang tour program," the Korean Central News Agency said in a statement.
South Korea has called for North Korea to hold reunions of separated families on a regular basis and to allow them to exchange letters at least. But Pyongyang has kept a lukewarm stance, hoping to barter the issue with the resumption of the tour program.
In October, the two Koreas held family reunions at Mount Kumgang and have held 20 rounds of such events so far since the first inter-Korean summit in 2000.
Seoul has said that such a one-off event is too insufficient to fulfill the hopes of around 66,000 elderly people to meet their kin in North Korea.
Pyongyang has repeatedly pressed Seoul to reopen the tour program to earn hard currency as it is under heavy U.N. sanctions over its nuclear tests and missile launches.
The tour program has been suspended since 2008 when a South Korean female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.
South Korea has said that North Korea should take measures to guarantee the safety of South Korean visitors at the mountain and ensure that similar incidents do not recur.
The two Koreas still remain technically at war as the Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. (Yonhap)
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