The BBC's Simon Harrison: Technically the two Koreas are still at war

The arrest of a South Korean tourist in the North has prompted Seoul to suspend further tourist cruises to the North.

Min Young-mi, 38, has been held by North Korea since Sunday for allegedly trying to persuade a northerner to defect.

The trips to Mount Kumgang are worth millions to the North

Hyundai, the business conglomerate which runs the cruises to a beautiful mountainous area in the North, says the woman started chatting to a North Korean tour worker while sightseeing.

She is said to have commented that some North Koreans had escaped from their totalitarian homeland and were now living successful lives in the South. She was arrested as a spy.

Seoul Correspondent Andrew Wood: "Passengers are briefed to avoid controversial political subjects"

The cruises began last November and provide much-needed foreign earnings for the North, which is short of money and food.

About 80,000 South Koreans have visited Mount Kumgang on the east coast since the tour began last November. It is the largest business project ever run between the two rival Korean states.

Beijing talks

The meeting between the two Korean delegations in China was delayed by a day because of a dispute over a shipment of fertiliser which the South had promised to send to the North.

Famine-stricken North Korea is desperate for food aid

The two sides spoke for about 90 minutes before breaking off.

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes says it is hard to tell where the talks go from here. Seoul says it will speak to its Pyongyang counterparts later in the day by telephone to discuss the resumption of talks.

Correspondents say the South continues to put a positive spin on things, insisting that the very fact that the two sides are talking is a good thing.

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes: "The smiles did little to hide the deep sense of mistrust that still exists between the two Koreas"

Seoul's delegation above all wants to reunite people who were separated from their families during the Korean War.

South Korea wants direct exchanges across the demilitarised zone which has separated the countries since the end of the war in 1953.

The North, however, is concerned with obtaining increased food and agricultural aid.

It was the South's insistence that the shipment be tied to an agreement on family reunions that caused the collapse of the last round of talks 14 months ago.

Naval clashes raised tensions dramatically

The two countries are still officially at war and last week's naval clashes, in which a North Korean gunboat was sunk, dramatically illustrated the tension still present between the two countries.

Correspondents say the South Korean Government is under pressure to bring back results from the talks following criticism that President Kim Dae-jung's policy of engagement is not working.