A South Korean delegation on a mission to North Korea to defuse nuclear tensions was not allowed to meet the North’s leader Kim Jong Il as it had expected and returned home today, South Korean officials said.

SOUTH Korean envoys will travel to North Korea next week to discuss the standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, officials said yesterday.

North Korea today accepted a South Korean proposal to resume talks in Seoul next week for the first time since official contacts broke off in March.