SOUTH Korea says talks with North Korea on reopening a jointly-run industrial estate have ended without agreement, but the two sides agreed to meet again next week.
The South's chief delegate Suh Ho said talks on restarting the Kaesong industrial complex's mothballed factories would continue on July 15, after about four hours of meetings that started on Wednesday morning.
"We both agreed that the complex should be maintained and further developed," Suh told reporters at the site just inside North Korea.
"The North argued that it should be resumed as soon as machinery checkups are finished, while we pointed out that the same situation could be repeated even after the reopening if there is no firm guarantee on preventing a recurrence (of the shutdown).
"So it was decided that this issue would be discussed at the next meeting," he added.
The talks follow months of cross-border friction and threats of war by Pyongyang after its February nuclear test attracted tougher UN sanctions, further squeezing its struggling economy.
Kaesong shut down three months ago as relations between the frosty neighbours hit crisis point.
But at a rare weekend meeting the North and South agreed in principle to reopen Kaesong, the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation.
Earlier on Wednesday, a vehicle convoy of about 130 South Korean delegates, support staff and factory owners crossed at Paju over the heavily fortified demilitarised border zone that underscores the ever-present tension between two nations, which remain technically at war. Their 1950-53 conflict ended in a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty.
The vehicles were outfitted with bright red flags, following border rules aimed at preventing an accidental shooting.
Kaesong, which was built in 2004, sits about 10 kilometres inside North Korea. The South Korean-funded site, built as part of a diplomatic bid to improve cross-border relations, was an important source of hard currency for the impoverished North.
In April Pyongyang withdrew its 53,000 workers from the 123 Seoul-owned factories at the complex, citing military tensions and what it called the South's hostility.
Seoul withdrew managers from most of the operations in early May.
The South now wants firm safeguards from the North against shutting Kaesong down unilaterally, to keep the estate insulated from changes in relations.
This would be a bitter pill for the North to swallow as it means it would accept responsibility for the April closure.
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