SEOUL - MILITARY talks aimed at easing high tensions between North and South Korea broke down on Wednesday when the North's delegation walked out, Seoul's defence ministry said.
North Korean Army Colonel Ri Sun Gyun, centre right, crosses the border line with other North Korean delegates for the military talks between Koreas
The two sides had been meeting for the first time since the North's deadly shelling of a South Korean island on November 23, which briefly sparked fears of war.
A ministry spokesman told AFP the delegates even failed to discuss when to meet again. 'Under the current situation, we can say the talks have collapsed.'Four people including civilians died in the shelling of Yeonpyeong island near the disputed Yellow Sea border. The South also accuses the North of torpedoing a warship last March near the border with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it denies.
Earlier on Wednesday the South agreed in principle to hold separate Red Cross talks on reunions for families separated since the 1950-53 war. But the unification ministry said these could not now go ahead.ORIGINAL SOURCE
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