Food aid overshadows Korea talks

The North Korean delegation were met by protesters

Ministers from North and South Korea are meeting for a new round of talks, with tensions expected over Seoul's decision to delay rice aid shipments.

Seoul agreed at the last talks in March to begin sending 400,000 tonnes of rice to the North from the end of May.

But shipments have been put on hold, because the North has failed to carry out its February pledge to start shutting down its nuclear programme.

US chief envoy Chris Hill is travelling to China to discuss the nuclear issue.

Before leaving Indonesia for Beijing, he said that while he would seek ways of moving forward, the process would be "helped immeasurably" if Pyongyang began dismantling its only operational nuclear reactor as agreed in February.

The North has refused to do this until it is given access to a $25m fund which has been frozen in a Macau bank.

Rail link hopes

The five-member team from Pyongyang were met by protesters as they flew into Seoul for the four-day meeting.

Ahead of the talks, South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung played down talk of a rift over the delayed rice shipments.

"It's not us saying whether we're going to give it or not. It's simply being delayed," he was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying.

"I don't think North Korea will protest the delay during the talks," he added.

Yonhap said Seoul hoped to impress upon the North this week that the shipments would resume as soon as Pyongyang had fulfilled its commitments over its nuclear programme.

South Korea is also hoping the talks will lead to the formal re-opening of two cross-border railway lines.

A test-run was carried out earlier this month, heralding the first border rail crossing for more than 50 years.

The North was accused by opposition lawmakers in the South of putting pressure on the bilateral talks by firing anti-ship missiles off its east and west coasts last week.

But the tests have been played down by both Seoul and the US, which said it viewed the action "as a routine exercise".