Two Koreas hold military talks after missile tests

SOUTH KOREA: Senior military officers from the two Koreas began talks Friday on easing tensions, one day after the North test-fired two missiles off its coast.

Officials quoted by Yonhap news agency said the one-day meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom would follow up agreements during talks at the level of generals last month.

They would not say whether the three-member South Korean delegation led by Army Colonel Moon Sung-Mook would raise Thursday's missile launches. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the missiles were believed to be ground-to-ship or ship-to-ship missiles with a range of some 100 kilometres (62 miles). All landed in North Korean waters.

A spokesman said the launches were among the routine missile tests North Korea carries out every year, as was a launch on May 25.

The US National Security Council described the missile launches as "not constructive."

Seoul, Friday, AFP