South Korea has called on North Korea to return in July to six-party negotiations on the future of the communist country's nuclear program.
South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told the North Korean delegation at the talks in Seoul that the nuclear crisis could and should also be discussed and solved between the two Koreas.
"Our top delegate stressed that the nuclear problem is both an international issue and a national issue," ministry official Kim Chun-shick told reporters. "He stressed that the issue must be discussed and resolved at ministerial talks."
North Korea typically does not like to discuss the nuclear crisis with South Korea because it sees the United States as its main interlocutor on the subject.
But when North and South Korea began their 15th round of ministerial talks today on improving ties after a year of deadlock, the main focus for many was on whether Seoul could put more pressure on Pyongyang to return to the nuclear table.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told Chung last week in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, his country might come back to the table in July.
The North Korean delegation, headed by Cabinet Councillor Kwon Ho-ung, said Pyongyang's ultimate goal was a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
"If the United States treats us with friendship, we will not have a single nuclear weapon," the South Korean official quoted the North as saying. That echoed Kim Jong-il's comments to Chung last week.
Officials said Chung's aim going into today's talks was to seek a firm commitment from the North to resume talks with the other parties in the six-way talks - South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
North Korea is likely to be more interested in securing more farm aid to help feed its people, a goal advocated by the North this year both at home and with the South because it expects to face more food shortages without international help.
The South Korean official said the North thanked the South for previous food and made a request for more in general terms.