Two Koreas agree to ministerial-level talks

SEOUL - North and South Korea have agreed to hold ministerial-level talks later this month in Pyongyang, a Seoul official said today.

Multilateral negotiations to end the North's pursuit of nuclear weapons are currently stalled.

Last month the two Koreas postponed the talks, mostly due to North Korean anger over joint US and South Korean military exercises.

The subject for discussion at the talks, planned for April 21 to 24, had not yet been decided, the official at South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

Past ministerial meetings between the two Koreas, which technically remain at war, have produced deals covering economic assistance, mining and humanitarian cooperation.

Chief negotiators for six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear arms programmes are set to gather in Tokyo next week for discussions that could provide a chance to persuade Pyongyang to return to the stalled negotiations.

The last round of the nuclear talks between the two Koreas China, Japan, Russia and the United States was held in November.

- REUTERS