North Korea today proposed military talks with the United States to resolve tensions over the March sinking of a South Korean warship, dpa cited the communist country's state-run media as reporting. Pyongyang called for colonel-level talks between the two countries to be held Tuesday in Panmunjom, which sits on the North-South Korean border, to plan future negotiations between generals, the North's Korean Central News Agency said. The proposal was a change in North Korea's stance after it rejected an offer of talks at the end of June with the US-led UN Command in South Korea. North Korea "still regards the opening of the North-South military talks as the best way for settling the issue," the news agency said Friday. Pyongyang has said Seoul rejected its offer of talks. South Korea has blamed its neighbour for the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan corvette near the two countries' disputed border in the Yellow Sea. An international investigation found that the sinking was caused by a North Korean torpedo. North Korea has denied being involved in the sinking, which killed 46 sailors. The North Korean proposal on Friday came shortly before the UN Security Council issued a condemnation of the attack. The 15-nation council said in a statement that it "deplores" the attack without directly naming the attacker. The council said, however, that its condemnation derived from the conclusion of the international investigation that held North Korea responsible for the attack.
