South, North Korean Talks End Without Agreement

Military officers from North and South Korea Wednesday ended two days of talks without reaching agreement, Yonhap news agency reported.

The South's defense ministry said it could not immediately confirm the report.

The working-level talks at the border village of Panmunjom were the first inter-Korean dialogue since the North's deadly shelling of a South Korean island on November 23.

They were intended to set the date and agenda for higher-level military dialogue aimed at easing months of tensions.

"The talks collapsed over differences over the agenda for high-level talks," a defense ministry official was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

"They broke up without setting a date for further preliminary talks."(AFP)