North Korea’s path to prosperity lies in implementing the promise it made at international disarmament talks to abandon its nuclear programmes, South Korean Finance Minister Han Duck-soo said today.

South Korea today urged North Korea to resolve a stand-off over its nuclear ambitions, describing ongoing international nuclear disarmament talks in Beijing as a historic opportunity to end the dispute.

A US military commander has said the US and South Korea could repel any attack by North Korea even if it had one or two nuclear bombs, as a top South Korean envoy today headed to Washington to push for new disarmament talks with the North.

The two Koreas today agreed to seek a peaceful resolution to the North’s nuclear stand-off with the international community but failed to set a date for stalled disarmament talks to resume.

The Koreas were outlining agreements for aid and boosting cooperation at high-level talks scheduled to wrap up today, with the North Korean delegation also planning a rare meeting with South Korea’s president.

A high-level delegation from North Korea arrived in Seoul today for talks with the rival South in an atmosphere of optimism after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il pledged to seek reconciliation and hinted at a return soon to nuclear disarmament negotiations.

North and South Korean officials today pledged to cooperate and pursue eventual unification as they celebrated the fifth anniversary of a summit between their leaders under the shadow of the international stand-off over the North’s nuclear ambitions.

The two Koreas, wrapping up their first face-to-face talks in 10 months, reached a three-point agreement today that did not mention the impasse over Pyongyang’s worrisome nuclear programme, according to a joint statement.

Top US and Chinese negotiators met today for discussions on luring North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks, after Washington dismissed the North’s latest threat to resume long-range missile testing as counter-productive.

NORTH Korea said yesterday that the large explosion near its border with China several days ago was a “deliberate detonation of a mountain” as part of a hydroelectric project.

South Koreans voted today in tightly contested parliamentary elections that could determine the future of impeached President Roh Moo-hyun.