SEOUL, South Korea – SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Talks between North Korea and the American-led U.N. Command have been rescheduled for Thursday after Pyongyang abruptly canceled a meeting meant to discuss the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on Pyongyang.
Military officers from the two sides now planned to meet at the Korean border village of Panmunjom on Thursday morning, the U.N. Command said in a statement Wednesday.
The talks were originally set for Tuesday, but the North abruptly canceled them just before they were to start, requesting a delay for "administrative reasons." It later asked that they be held Thursday and the U.N. Command accepted the proposal.
The talks would be the first such meeting since the March 26 sinking, which sharply raised tensions on the divided Korean peninsula. Forty-six South Korean sailors were killed.
An international investigation in May concluded that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the 1,200-ton Cheonan near the tense Korean sea border. Pyongyang flatly denies it was responsible and has warned any punishment would trigger war.
The U.N. Command, which oversees an armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953, separately investigated whether the sinking violated the truce, though the findings have not been disclosed.
Late last month, the command proposed military talks with North Korea to review its findings and initiate dialogue.
The North first rejected the offer, criticizing the U.S. for allegedly trying to meddle in inter-Korean affairs under the name of the U.N. But it reversed its position last week and proposed working-level talks at Panmunjom to prepare for higher-level talks by general officers on the sinking.
North Korea and the U.N. Command launched general-level talks in 1998 as a measure to lessen tension between the sides. If a new round is realized, they would be the 17th of their kind, according to the U.N. command.
The U.S. stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean War, which ended in an armistice that has never been replaced with a permanent peace treaty.
The U.N. Security Council on Friday approved a statement that condemned the sinking but stopped short of directly blaming North Korea.
Antisemitism Exposed
Fox News' Antisemitism Exposed" newsletter brings you stories on the rising anti-Jewish prejudice across the U.S. and the world."
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.
