Two Koreas to hold second round of high-level talks

Seoul: North and South Korea will hold a second round of high-level talks on Friday, the South`s Unification Ministry said, as they seek to resolve a row over looming South Korea-US military drills.

The meeting will again be held at the border truce village of Panmunjom with the same vice minister-level delegations that participated in a first round of talks on Wednesday. They mark the highest-level sit-down between the two rivals since 2007. Wednesday`s discussions ran late into the night, but ended without any tangible agreement or joint statement. Although the talks have no fixed agenda, the South is focused on ensuring that a planned reunion later this month for family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War goes ahead as scheduled. The North is insisting that the start of South Korea`s annual military exercises with the United States, which overlaps with the reunion event, be postponed. Seoul has refused, arguing that the two issues cannot be linked.