South Korea urged North Korea during a meeting at the Panmunjeom truce village Thursday to admit responsibility for the March sinking of a South Korean naval vessel.

During the working-level military talks, the South urged the North to admit to and apologize for the sinking of the “Cheonan” corvette, to punish those responsible and to devise measures to prevent a recurrence.

The South Korean side said that scientific and objective investigations have proven that the North sank the Cheonan, stressing that the North must act responsibly in regards to the situation before bilateral tensions can ease.

The South also called on the North to immediately stop military provocations and hostile acts near the inter-Korean maritime border.

The North contended that it does not accept the results of the Cheonan probe and also repeated its demand that South Korea allow the North to conduct its own independent investigation into the incident.

The Thursday morning meeting was the first inter-Korean military talks in two years. The two sides ended the talks after one hour and 40 minutes without setting the date for a follow-up meeting.