hankyoreh

South Korea and North Korea began talks on ways of providing the North with energy and other economic aid Thursday as scheduled, officials said, despite reports of strained inter-Korean ties after the South's conservative government took office a month ago.

The two-day working-level meeting at the truce village of Panmunjom is aimed at discussing technical issues on how to provide the North with fuel and related facilities under a multilateral nuclear deal signed last year.

The meeting is also to prepare for next month's trilateral talks in Beijing, which will include China.

"The meeting has started as scheduled," Kim Jong-min, a Foreign Ministry official said, adding he has yet to receive details including the mood of the meeting. No media have been allowed to directly cover the meeting held in the heavily-armed demilitarized zone (DMZ). Entry into the area requires approval from the United Nations Command and on-site news coverage for inter-Korean event needs Pyongyang's agreement.

Thursday's inter-Korean talks came amid reports that North Korea has expelled most of the South Korean officials at the inter-Korean industrial town in Kaesong, a border city just north of the DMZ, in protest against Seoul's hard-line approach towards it.

On Wednesday, President Lee Myung-bak urged the North to abide by its denuclearization commitment. Lee's point man on Pyongyang also warned that Seoul will slow the pace of inter-Korean economic cooperation unless North Korea moves towards denuclearization.

SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap)