General-grade officers of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) began discussions Wednesday at the Mount Geumgang of the DPRK at 10:00 am (0100 GMT), reported the Yonhap News Agency.  

Earlier Wednesday, the five-member ROK delegation, led by Rear Adm. Park Jung-hwa, traveled to the DPRK via an overland route across the heavily fortified inter-Korean border.

"The talks were supposed to end in two hours, but we can't know whether the talks will finish as scheduled until they end," Hong Heung-joo, assistant unification minister was quoted by Yonhap as saying in Seoul.

ROK officials said the meeting is open for discussion on any issue to be raised by either side, but its main agenda will be to work out joint measures aimed at avoiding possible armed clashes along the poorly marked western sea border.

The navies of the two countries fought gun battles along the disputed border in 1999 and 2002, causing heavy casualties on both sides. The clashes erupted as warships from both sides tried to protect their fishing boats operating in the area, which is rich in crabs. The crab-catching season usually starts in late May.

The defense chiefs of the two countries met for the first time following the 2000 summit of their leaders, but no significant progress was made.

The two sides agreed to hold senior level military contact in inter-Korean ministerial talks held in Pyongyang in early May.

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2004)