By DPA
Seoul : North Korea put the sensitive issue of the western sea border of the divided Korean peninsula on the agenda at high-profile military talks Tuesday to open a rail line between the two Koreas, local media reported.
"We would like to discuss ways of preventing conflicts in the West Sea as well," said North Korea's chief delegate Kim Young-chol in opening remarks, according to Yonhap news agency.
The three-day meeting at the truce village of Panmunjom in the middle of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) was called to guarantee the safe passage of trains during test runs next week across the heavily fortified border.
The rail lines were reconnected as a result of the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000 after having been cut since the Korean War 1950-53.
The test run is slated for May 17 after being delayed from last year, partly due to differences over the Yellow Sea border.
The western maritime border and the Northern Limit Line (NLL) was drawn up by the United Nations forces in 1953. However, Pyongyang has refused to recognise it, leading to naval clashes between North and South Korea.
South Korea's position is that the NLL issue should be handled at the defence ministerial talks.
The meeting is the first general-level talks in nearly a year between military officers. The two Koreas are still technically at war as they have only agreed to a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.