Koreas fail to agree on sea border

North and South Korea failed to reach agreement Friday on creating a shared fishing zone to defuse tensions along their disputed sea border.

Three days of talks between generals from the North and South at the border village of Panmunjom ended without an accord on the maritime issue, South Korean negotitators said.

The failure underscored the two sides' stark differences on the issue -- a perennial deal-breaker in military talks.

North Korea does not recognize the boundary off the peninsula's west coast and demands that the line be redrawn further south, which Seoul has consistently rejected.

"We couldn't agree with the North's opinion so we couldn't reach a settlement today," said Col. Moon Sung-mook, spokesman for the South's delegation.

Earlier, North and South Korea agreed to simplify customs inspections and other border-crossing procedures for South Koreans in the North, a step that will give a further boost to growing economic ties and reconciliation.

The North also agreed to allow South Koreans in two joint industrial and tourism ventures in the isolated country to use the Internet and wireless telephones beginning next year, the South's Defense Ministry said.

The agreement was reached Wednesday, the first day of high-level military talks at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the buffer zone separating the two Koreas.

It will take effect when defense ministers from the Koreas sign and exchange it, according to the ministry.

North Korea does not recognize the boundary off the peninsula's west coast, known formally as the Northern Limit Line, as it was drawn at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Pyongyang has long demanded the line be redrawn further south, which Seoul has consistently rejected. The disagreement prompted two deadly skirmishes in 1999 and 2002 in rich fishing waters around the border.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il agreed at their October summit to create a joint fishing ground as a way to resolve the dispute. But the sides disagree over where the zone should be located.

The South wants both sides to provide the same area around the boundary, but the North wants the zone set up only south of the border. The issue was also a key sticking point at talks between the two Koreas' defense ministers last month. E-mail to a friend

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