South and North Korea on Thursday failed to agree on when and how to conduct test runs of two reconnected cross-border railways.

According to the Unification Ministry in Seoul, the two-day working-level talks in Gaesong, North Korea, ended without agreement on the first test runs of railways along the east and west coasts.

The South strongly urged the North to set a date for the test runs and guarantee military security for the trains and tourists crossing the border.

While the two sides agreed on the security arrangements, they failed to agree on one key economic development issue, as the North demanded that the South provide aid to North Korean light industry in return for agreeing to hold the trial runs in May.

Unification Ministry spokesman Yang Chang-seok told a news briefing that the two sides agreed to continue trying to narrow differences over when to begin joint projects for light industry and natural resources development.

As the latest meeting ended without agreement, the railway test run will likely become the biggest issue at the next round of economic cooperation talks to be held in Pyongyang on April 18th.