ROK, DPRK begin 2nd senior-level talks

The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday resumed talks between high-ranking officials after failing to reach any tangible agreement two days earlier.

Five-member delegations from both sides started the high-level dialogue around 10 a.m. local time at the Peace House, an administrative building in the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjeom as agreed, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.

The delegations were led by the same figures as the first meeting. ROK's chief delegate was Kim Kyou-hyun, deputy director of the presidential national security office. The DPRK delegation was led by Won Dong-yon, deputy head of the United Front Department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

The second round of talks came just two days after the first dialogue ended without any specific agreement. The first talks, the highest level in around seven years, ran late into night, but it ended up reaffirming differences between the two Koreas.

At the first round, the DPRK called for the ROK to delay the joint military exercises with the United Statesto dates after the end of the family reunion. The two allies will stage the "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle" war games from Feb. 24 to April 18. The reunion event, where around 200 people will meet their long-lost relatives as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in armistice, will be held from Feb. 20 to 25.

In response, the ROK said the annually-held military drills of defensive nature, which the DPRK has denounced as the rehearsal for a northward invasion, will be conducted as scheduled, reiterating that the humanitarian event should not be connected with the military exercises for national security.

US Secretary of State John Kerry echoed it on his second trip to the ROK as the American top diplomat on Thursday. Kerry said in a joint press conference after meeting with his ROK counterpart Yun Byung-se in Seoul that "the United States does not believe that it is appropriate" to link the humanitarian event to the military matter.

The two rounds of high-level talks became the first such talks held since May 2007 as Pyongyang made the offer to Seoul, seeking to prove its sincerity with action toward improved ties with its southern neighbor. On Feb 8, the DPRK proposed the first high- level talks through the truce village of Panmunjeom.

At around midday Thursday, the DPRK suggested that the second round should be resumed from 3 p.m. that day. The ROK responded that while agreeing on the resumption, there was not enough time to restart the talks on Thursday, offering to resume the dialogue Friday. Pyongyang agreed to the counter proposal.