The two Koreas opened economic co-operation talks Sunday as the South protested at the North's recent decision to cancel a test run of a railway joining the divided peninsula, officials said.
The agenda for the talks on the southern island of Jeju largely focused on the South's aid and assistance to the impoverished North, according to the unification ministry.
The talks had previously been expected to produce a deal worth tens of millions of dollars in South Korean aid to help North Korea's light industries and jointly develop of its mineral resources.
But the prospects of a deal have been overshadowed by the North's unilateral decision to put off a cross-border railway test run, due to have been conducted on May 25.
The North's decision disappointed the South, which wants former president Kim Dae-Jung to be able to travel to Pyongyang by train later this month - the first such trip since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Pyongyang cited a lack of safety guarantees for railway travellers and anti-North Korean demonstrators in South Korea as reasons to abort the test-run.
Seoul said it would keep raising the issue at the economic talks. Some officials have warned that Seoul could scale down its aid for North Korea, according to the Yonhap news agency.
The North previously asked for some 250 million dollars' worth of raw materials for its shoe and garment industries, according to officials at the South's unification ministry. The North also wants 500,000 tonnes of rice in aid from the South.
The latest economic talks are to last until Tuesday.
A 17-member North Korean team led by chief delegate Ju Tong-Chan arrived in Jeju Saturday. Vice Finance Minister Bahk Byong-Won heads the South's team.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.