No economic co-operation with N Korea yet, says south

South Korea told US officials it has no plans to launch “large-scale” economic co-operation with North Korea before the dispute over the communist state’s nuclear weapons programmes is resolved, the country’s foreign minister said today.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun urged the North to return to six-nation talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons programmes. North Korea has refused to return to the negotiations until Washington abandons its alleged “hostile” policy.