SKorea accepts NKorea’s proposal for talks on joint factory park

September 21st, 2009 SKorea head proposes 'grand bargain'NEW YORK — South Korean President Lee Myung-bak proposed a "grand bargain" Monday to restart disarmament negotiations and end North Korea's nuclear arms program. Lee's proposal called for giving the North economic and political incentives, including a security guarantee, the Yonhap news agency reported.

September 12th, 2009 SKorea not opposed to US-NKorea direct talksSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea would not oppose the United States holding direct talks with North Korea to persuade the communist regime to rejoin stalled international nuclear disarmament negotiations, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J.

September 10th, 2009 Obama says he accepts Rep. Wilson's apologyWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he accepts Republican Rep.

September 1st, 2009 Seoul sees NKorea's overtures as tactical changesSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's recent conciliatory gestures do not represent any fundamental changes because the communist country has shown no signs of ending its nuclear weapons program, a top South Korean official said Wednesday. In April, North Korea quit six-nation talks — involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — aimed at ending its nuclear program.

August 2nd, 2009 Labor talks at S.Korea's Ssangyong Motor break offSEOUL, South Korea — Talks to end a months-long strike at ailing South Korean automaker Ssangyong Motor Co. broke off Sunday, with management threatening to take steps toward bankruptcy unless the union accepts a compromise offer on layoffs.

July 12th, 2009 Chinese envoy to hold talks with SKorean officialsSEOUL, South Korea — China's top nuclear envoy has arrived in South Korea as part of diplomatic efforts to revive the stalled talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei arrived in Seoul on Sunday after visiting Russia, the U.S.

June 19th, 2009 SKorea rejects North's demand on factory parkSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Friday rejected North Korea's demand for a massive increase in wages and rent at a joint industrial park struggling to stay afloat, leaving the fate of more than 100 companies and 40,000 workers there hanging in balance. The meeting comes amid tension on the peninsula over the North's missile and nuclear program.

June 18th, 2009 SKorea to demand NKorea to free detained workerSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea will demand the release of a citizen held by North Korea when the two countries meet for a third round of talks over the fate of a troubled joint factory park, an official said Thursday. Friday's meeting at the North Korean border town of Kaesong, the site of the industrial park, comes amid rising tension in the peninsula over the North's nuclear program.

May 9th, 2009 N.Korea says dialogue with S.Korea out of questionSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Saturday that it would not even consider talking with South Korea, lashing out at Seoul for criticizing the isolated country's human rights record. South Korea had been planning to propose talks on the two countries' troubled joint industrial complex, but the statement put any such talks in doubt.

April 21st, 2009 Inter-Korean talks begin after hours of delaySEOUL, South Korea — South Korea says talks with North Korea about a troubled joint factory complex in the communist country have begun after hours of delay. Unification Ministry spokeswoman Kim Ho-nyeon said that the talks began Tuesday night at the Kaesong Industrial Complex across the border in North Korea.

April 21st, 2009 South Korean officials depart for meeting in NorthSEOUL, South Korea — South Korean officials traveled Tuesday to North Korea for the first official dialogue between the two governments under South Korea's conservative President Lee Myung-bak, amid tension over Pyongyang's April 5 rocket launch. Also adding strain to the meeting was North Korea's recent warning that the South not join a U.S.-led program to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

April 20th, 2009 2 Koreas to meet Tuesday in 1st dialogue in a yearSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said it will hold talks Tuesday with North Korea to discuss a troubled joint industrial complex, marking the first official dialogue between the two countries under South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said Sunday that officials of the two Koreas would meet in the border town of Kaesong on Tuesday to discuss the factory complex, adding that it would be the first "contact between the governments" under Lee's conservative administration.

April 19th, 2009 2 Koreas to hold first dialogue in a yearSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Sunday accepted North Korea's proposal for talks on a troubled joint industrial complex, setting up the first official dialogue between the two countries in a year amid tensions over the North's recent rocket launch. Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said officials of the two Koreas would meet in the border town of Kaesong on Tuesday to discuss the factory complex.

April 18th, 2009 South Korea studying North's proposal for talksSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Saturday it is reviewing a North Korean proposal for talks on a troubled joint industrial complex where the North is holding a South Korean man, amid rising tensions over the North's recent rocket launch and its expulsion of nuclear monitors. Separately, North's Korea's military repeated a warning for South Korea to stay out of a U.S.-led security initiative aimed at halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction, saying Seoul's full participation would be seen as tantamount to a declaration of war.

April 17th, 2009 NKorea proposes meeting on joint factory parkSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea says that North Korea has proposed a meeting on a joint factory park in the North next week. Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon told reporters Saturday that the North recently proposed a meeting to discuss the joint complex in the border town of Kaesong.