SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea has postponed the implementation of an accord to jointly clear thousands of land mines along a portion of its border with South Korea.
After months of negotiations, the militaries of the Koreas agreed on land mine removal procedures inside a corridor of their border where a cross-border railway will be built.
If reconnected, the railway will become the first direct land transport link between the neighbors since the 1950-53 Korean war.
Delegates of the two sides tentatively agreed to begin moving the land mines after their defense ministers signed the agreement last week.
Administrative reasons cited for delay
But North Korea, reversing itself, unilaterally notified South Korea Saturday that the schedule should be changed for "administrative reasons," said an official at Seoul's Defense Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity.
South Korean media speculated that the North Korean move appears to be related to its discontent with South Korea's 2001 defense white paper that designates the communist North as Seoul's "principal enemy."
Before concluding last week's military talks, North Korean delegates unilaterally declared that there would be no more defense ministers' meetings between the two sides unless the South Korean defense white paper is revised.
Military cooperation essential
The cross-border railway is a byproduct of a historic summit of leaders of the two Korean states in June at which they agreed to work together for reconciliation and unification.
It will connect Seoul and Pyongyang, the two Korean capitals, and continue to Shinuiju, a major city on the North's border with China.
Military cooperation is essential to the work, which involves clearing thousands of land mines inside 4 kilometer-(2.5-mile)-wide demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas.
To build the railway and a parallel four-lane highway, the two sides have agreed to create a 250-meter (yard) corridor across the world's most heavily armed border.
If work goes smoothly, the rail line would be reconnected by the fall, Seoul officials said.
The Korean Peninsula was divided into the communist North and pro-Western South in 1945. The Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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