Inter-Korean NLL Talks Deadlocked

The Northern Limit Line (NLL) is  the disputed martime boundary between the Koreas, the western extension of the Korean DMZ (map here).  The sea border was one of the issues that the 1953 Armistice talks never resolved, so the South Koreans drew a line.  Since then, the North Koreans have realized that the waters near the NLL are rich crab fishing grounds, and that crab bring in badly needed foreign exchange.  Thus, the North Koreans have developed a habit of literally testing the waters, and those tests sometimes get people hurt or  killed (and quickly forgotten  by their leaders). 

Appeasement-minded Korean President Roh Moo Hyun sought to buy himself a legacy by turning some of those disputed waters into an (barf bags ready?) international peace park.  Ferocious public opposition has prevented Roh’s negotiators from giving away this resource at the very end of his disastrous term in office, and since North Korea isn’t looking to give away anything in return, a deadlock is the natural result.