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Second North-South General-level Military Talks Held

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

    Pyongyang, June 4 (KCNA) -- The second round of the north-south general-level military talks was held at Mt. Solak Resort of the south side on June 3 and 4. Present there were the north side's delegation led by Major General of the Korean People's Army An Ik San and the south side's delegation with Pak Jong Hwa, commodore of the Defence Ministry as chief delegate.
    An agreement on the prevention of accidental conflicts in the West Sea, the suspension of propaganda in the areas along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and the removal of propaganda means was reached at the talks Friday.
    The agreement said:
    The Ministry of the People's Armed Forces of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK and the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Korea held the second round of the north-south general-level military talks on Mt. Solak resort on June 3 and 4, 2004 and agreed upon the following points:
    1. Both sides have agreed to exert joint efforts to achieve military detente and lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.
    2. Both sides have agreed to take the following measures from June 15, 2004 to prevent accidental conflicts in the West Sea:
    First. Both sides shall strictly deter vessels from standing in confrontation with each other in the West Sea.
    Second. Both sides shall refrain from taking any unreasonable physical actions against each other's warships and civilian vessels in the West Sea.
    Third. Both sides shall use 156.8,156.6MHz ultrashort mobile radios with a view to barring their ships from standing face to face with each other due to navigation error, ship wreck and rescue, etc. and wiping off mutual misunderstanding.
    Fourth. Both sides shall institute and apply regulations on flags and light signals as necessary supplementary means.
    Fifth. Both sides shall share the view that accidental conflicts may occur in the course of intercepting and inspecting fishing boats of third countries illegally catching fish in sensitive waters of the west sea and shall cooperate with each other in the efforts to seek a diplomatic solution to this issue and exchange information about the movements of the illegal fishing boats.
    Sixth. Views on the matters raised in the west sea shall be exchanged for the time being through telecommunication lines available in the west coastal area.
    In order to ensure smooth and swift telecommunications to prevent conflicts in the west sea, both sides shall extend the communication lines from the existing telecommunication lines in the west coastal area to have in place their separate lines in the areas under the control of the north and the south till August 15 in order to set up telecommunication liaison offices in each other's areas and cooperate with each other in the efforts to modernize them.
    3. Both sides decided to stop propaganda in the areas along the MDL and remove its means from there in order to defuse the military tension on the Korean peninsula and dispel mistrust and misunderstanding between the armies of the two sides.
    First. Both sides shall stop all propaganda activities through loud-speakers, bulletin, leaflets, etc. in the areas along the MDL from June 15 which marks the fourth anniversary of the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration.
    Second. Both sides shall remove all the propaganda means at three phases from the MDL area till August 15, 2004.
    a. Both sides shall remove those things in the section from MDL Marker No. 0001 to No. 0100 including the area under the control of the north and the south in the west coastal area and Panmunjom area on a trial basis at the first phase (from June 16 to 30).
    b. The second phase (from July 1 to 20) shall include those things in the section from MDL Marker No.0100 to No. 0640. c.At the third phase (from July 21 to August 15) all the propaganda means shall be eliminated from the section from MDL Marker No. 0640 to No. 1292.
    Third. Upon the completion of the phased removal of the propaganda means, both sides shall inform each other of its results, inspect and confirm the results of their removal in each other's area. They may verify the results each other, if necessary.
    Fourth. Upon the completion of the phased removal of those means both sides shall open it to the media.
    Fifth. Both sides shall in no case set up again such propaganda means and resume propaganda activities in the future.
    4. Both sides have agreed to hold military talks as a follow-up measure to implement the above-said agreed points to the letter.