Jul. 30 – North Korea and the U.S.-led United Nations Command held colonel-level military talks at the border truce village of Panmunjom this morning in the third round of military talks since the March sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan, according to an official with the U.N. Command.
The meeting comes two days after the United States and South Korea finished a series of joint military exercises off the Korean coast in a show of force that included a U.S. Nimitz class nuclear-powered supercarrier, the USS George Washington.
An international investigation into the Cheonan incident found that a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine ruptured the ship’s hull, sinking the ship and killing 46 South Korean sailors. North Korea adamantly denies its involvement in any such act.
During the July 23 meeting between the two parties, the U.N. Command proposed to form a joint committee to assess whether any violation of the 1953 armistice had taken place. North Korea instead demanded that it be allowed to unconditionally conduct its own investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan.
South Korea plans to independently conduct more defensive drills next week involving its air force, army, marines, and navy, according to a spokesman from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The spokesman also added that the United States and South Korea are amid talks regarding further joint military exercises in the Yellow Sea in September.
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