Koreas propose different sites for talks

SEOUL, South Korea -- The rival Koreas Friday traded counterproposals over where to meet for talks Sunday, as mutual interest in mending ties clashed with mistrust stemming from years of animosity and hard-line stances.

South Korea's suggestion that officials meet in a truce village straddling the heavily armed border between the countries came hours after North Korea said it favors holding talks in its border city of Kaesong.

South Korea on Thursday had suggested high-level talks in Seoul, its capital, but North Korea said it wanted lower-level talks first because the countries' "relations have been stalemated for years and mistrust has reached the extremity."

Two officials with Seoul's Unification Ministry, which deals with North Korea matters, said South Korea made the latest proposal through a cross-border Red Cross communications line newly reopened by the North. The South Korean officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing official policy.

Pyongyang didn't immediately respond to Seoul's most recent offer, but even the restoration of the Red Cross line in the truce village of Panmunjom signals an easing of tensions.

The line, used for exchanging messages on humanitarian and other issues, was shut down by the North in March during several weeks of animosity marked by North Korean threats of war and South Korean vows of counterstrikes.

Yesterday's developments followed the countries' agreement Thursday to hold talks on issues including reopening a jointly run industrial complex in Kaesong that had been the last symbol of inter-Korean cooperation before it closed this spring.

North Korea, which is estimated to have a handful of crude nuclear devices, has committed a drumbeat of acts over the past year that Washington, Seoul and others deem provocative. -- AP