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Russian expert sees few chances for Kaesong talks to succeed

"I am afraid they will be unable to reach any kind of agreement,” Georgy Toloraya said

MOSCOW, July 29 (Itar-Tass) - A Russian expert from the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Economics said on Monday that negotiations between the two Korean states on the resumption of operation of the Kaesong industrial complex had little chance to succeed.

Georgy Toloraya, the director of the institute’s Korean programs, told Itar-Tass that the two sides had taken an inflexible and uncompromising approach.

"I am afraid they will be unable to reach any kind of agreement,” Toloraya said. “South Korea has in fact submitted an ultimatum to its northern neighbor. It has made the final proposal that will make all subsequent talks unnecessary while North Korea does not like such ultimatums at all,” the expert went on to say.

Toloraya feared that the initiative would sink in the sand and the Kaesong project would be frozen. “Let’s wait for a few days to see how things are going to develop. Perhaps both sides will show reason. But on the whole, I am rather pessimistic about prospects of resuming the operation of the Kaesong complex,” Toloraya emphasized.