Two Koreas Fail to Reach Agreement in Gaeseong Talks

South and North Korea ended two days of vice-ministerial talks without reaching an agreement, Saturday, after failing to narrow their differences over Seoul's suspended tour program to the Mount Geumgang Tourist Region in the North.

Pyongyang refused to discuss other pending inter-Korean issues during the talks at Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) in North Korea, unless Seoul agrees to resume tours to North Korea's scenic mountain resort, according Vice Unification Minister Hwang Boo-gi.

Hwang, who led the South Korean delegation at the GIC, said they also refused, causing the talks to end.

He added the two sides did not issue a joint statement and also did not fix a date for the next meeting.

"The North unilaterally told us that no further discussions will be necessary, claiming we have no will to make progress on tours to Mount Geumgang," Hwang told reporters after the talks.

Uriminzokkiri, Pyongyang's propaganda website, blamed Seoul for the failure of negotiations.

"Now is the time that those who are directly responsible for improving inter-Korean ties should be careful with their words and behavior," the website said.

The vice-ministerial talks took place in line with the inter-Korean agreement reached on Aug. 25 to facilitate high-level dialogue and defuse military tensions at the DMZ.

The meeting this time stretched into the evening on Saturday following an earlier round of negotiations on Friday.

The tour to Mount Geumgang had been a cash cow for the impoverished North. And it has been a bone of contention between the two Koreas after Seoul banned it in 2008 following the shooting of a South Korean tourist who had wandered out of bounds.

Led by Jon Jong-su, vice director of the secretariat of North Korea's Committee...