Two Koreas resume talks on joint march at Asiad

Associated Press, Seoul, South Korea

The two Koreas reopened talks Monday aimed at working out details for North Korea's participation in this year's Asian Games to be held in South Korea, officials said.

The three-day talks at the Diamond Mountain resort on North Korea's east coast marked the second time the two sides have met this month. The first meeting ended without agreement because of a dispute over a joint march of their athletes during the opening ceremony, said Chung In-shik, a spokesman for the Asian Games organizing committee.

The South Korean official did not elaborate, but local media said the disagreement was over which flag the athletes would carry.

North Korea has agreed to send a 665-member delegation, including 350 supporters, to the Sept. 29-Oct. 14 Asian Games in Busman. Until now, it has shunned all international sporting events in South Korea, including this year's soccer World Cup.

During the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the Koreas agreed to have their athletes carry a unification flag - which bears a blue image of the Korean peninsula on a white background - instead of their national flags when they marched in the opening ceremony. The unification flag has become a symbol of unity between the Koreas.

North Korea wants the same arrangement for the Asian Games, local Yonhap news agency said. But as host of the games, South Korea is reluctant.

During a confirmation hearing on Monday, South Korea's nominee for prime minister, Chang Dae-whan, said his government wants athletes of both sides to march together, holding a unification flag and their national flags.

South Korea has indicated that it will allow the North Korean flag to fly at stadiums and the hotel where the Northern delegation will stay, despite a law that bans it. The South has not yet decided whether to ban its citizens from waving the communist flag at stadiums.

After months of tension, the two Koreas agreed earlier this month to hold a series of discussions on economic, sports and other projects and exchanges.

The Koreas were divided in 1945. The 1950-53 Korean War ended without a peace treaty, and the inter-Korean border remains sealed and heavily fortified.