South and North Korea intend to meet in Seoul Tuesday for renewed talks to improve relations, the South Korean Defence Ministry said Monday, according to DPA. Focus of the ministerial level talks, which are due to be held over several days, will be cooperation on humanitarian issues and economic projects. The North Korean delegation, headed by Cabinet Councillor Kwon Ho- ung, is due to take a chartered flight from Pyongyang to Seoul, according to reports. South Korea will be represented by Unification Minister Lee Jae- joung. Seoul was expecting the North Korean delegation to insist on the supply of the 400,000 tons of rice South Korea had promised in April. But Lee said later that Seoul wanted to make the rice aid conditional on first steps towards the dismantling of the North Korean nuclear weapons programme. North Korea missed the deadline for switching off one of its nuclear plants in mid April. The agreement in the nuclear conflict among other things had lead the two Korean states to resume dialogue. The scope of North Korea's most recent missile testing exercises, meanwhile, remains unclear. Referring to secret service sources, the South Korean media reported that North Korea on Friday likely only fired one test missile towards the Japanese Sea. The device was reportedly a short-range missile.
