Asia-Pacific

Nuclear impasse hangs over two Koreas' talks

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-29 10:48

SEOUL - The two Koreas will try to mend relations at cabinet-level talks on Tuesday, but the North's refusal to act on a nuclear disarmament deal could lead Seoul to delay rice aid promised to its impoverished neighbor.

Logo of Banco Delta Asia is displayed at its headquarters in Macau. The United States believes a banking dispute blocking a nuclear disarmament accord will drag on and has pressed North Korea to start shutting its reactor in return for a firm US promise of a solution, a report said Monday. [AFP]

South Korea had pledged to send 400,000 metric tons of rice this month to help North Korea battle its chronic food shortages.

"The rice will be sent to the North. But the shipment is delayed because of various situations," a senior South Korean Unification Ministry official told Yonhap news agency on Monday.

The South has said it would suspend the aid if its neighbor behaved badly. North Korea's firing of a short-range missile last week is likely to have exacerbated tensions between the two states.

The ministerial talks are slated to run through Friday. Past sessions have been marked by drama, such as a Pyongyang walk-out last year when Seoul said it would suspend rice handouts due to the North's test-firing of ballistic missiles in July 2006.

South Korea has been hesitant to resume regular rice aid because North Korea missed a deadline to start shutting down its reactor and source of plutonium for bombs that was set in a six-country deal reached in February.

The two Koreas shared a moment of reconciliation on May 17 when they sent the first trains across their border since the 1950-1953 war, which ended in a truce and not with a peace treaty.

South Korea, which promised about $80 million in aid to the North to allow the run on tracks built by Seoul, wants to see regular rail travel between the two.

The meeting will start with a welcoming banquet on Tuesday night in Seoul.