S.Korea, DPRK to resume high-level talks amid nuclear row
2005-05-16

SEOUL, May 16 (Xinhuanet) -- A high-level South Korean delegation left Seoul Monday for the first official talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 10 months, saying that it would use them to urge the DPRK to rejoin nuclear disarmament talks.

The three-member South Korean delegation, led by Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo, was scheduled to meet his counterpart at 10:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) at the start of the two-day talks at the DPRK's border town of Kaesong.

"I'll do my best to normalize South-North relations and upgrade them by a step higher by regularizing the dialogue as well as create a good milieu for resolution of the nuclear issue," Rhee told reporters.

South Korean officials expected the talks to cover "comprehensive" inter-Korean issues, but they also believe that the dialogue may also likely be dominated by Seoul's calls for the DPRK to return to the dialogue table on its nuclear weapons.