N Korea in new talks offer

Seoul's delegation is on its way to Pyongyang

North Korea has offered to discuss a June naval clash between its navy and the South's, just hours before officials from the two sides are due to resume their stalled dialogue.

North Korea's army on Friday offered to hold talks on the clash with the United Nations Command, the US-led body that oversees the armistice which followed the Korean War.

The UN Command has asked for talks on the clash twice before. But North Korea's unexpected and positive response prompted fresh speculation of a diplomatic initiative to improve its strained international relations.

The offer followed a breakthrough meeting on Wednesday between North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun and US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

North Korea wants to reopen high-level contact with the United States but US officials say the outcome of this weekend's inter-Korean talks will be a factor in deciding whether or not they send a delegation to the Communist state.

A South Korean delegation is in North Korea for working-level talks aimed at reviving stalled dialogue.

The discussions, at North Korea's remote Diamond Mountain resort, are expected to set a date for higher-level talks between the two sides.

The five-member South Korean delegation is on a mission to re-establish cabinet-level talks with the North, which were broken off last November.

Unfinished business

The meeting is also expected to focus on resuming stalled inter-Korean projects.

They include reunions between elderly relatives from the two Koreas who have been separated for the past half-century, and reconnecting a cross-border railway.

The surprise offer to re-establish dialogue was made by North Korea last week after it expressed regret for last month's naval clash, although it stopped short of issuing an apology.

Senior US diplomat James Kelly could go to the North if the talks go well

The Southern delegation has said it will seek an explanation over the incident and demand that steps are taken to prevent future clashes.

But as the South Korean diplomats travelled North, Pyongyang issued a statement calling for the scrapping of the disputed inter-Korean sea border - another sign of the mixed messages coming out of the unpredictable state.

North Korea is calling for the maritime border to be renegotiated.