S Korea, DPRK resume talks over joint industrial complex

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SEOUL, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s delegations held the third round of government-level talks at the Kaesong Joint Industrial Complex on Thursday.

The talks started at 10 a.m. (0100 GMT) as scheduled at the joint park in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong, and ended after lasting an hour and 10 minutes.

During the morning session, the two sides shared their positions and exchanged views, according to South Korea's senior unification ministry official.

"Our side said in a keynote speech that we cannot accept North (DPRK)'s unreasonable demands that it has presented over the joint park after unilaterally scrapping existing contracts," the official said.

Although it is not yet known whether the talks will be resumed, an afternoon session is highly likely as the dialogue was resumed after a lunch break in the previous two sessions.

The South Korean delegation, composed of 12 representatives, crossed the border between the two countries to meet with the DPRK counterparts at 08:49 a.m. (2349 GMT Wednesday) local time.

Kim Young-tak (R3), director general of the Kaesong Industrial Complex Project Bureau under the South Korean Unification Ministry, leaves for Kaesong to attend the talks over the Kaesong Joint Industrial Complex between South Korean and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Seoul, capital of South Korea, July 2, 2009. (Xinhua/Newsis)