North and South Korea hold talks

(Vatican Radio) North and South Korea have held talks on reopening a joint industrial zone.

The move is seen as particularly significant as the zone was a symbol of cooperation until relations plummeted this Spring.

Listen to regional correspondent Alastair Wanklyn's report...

The two delegations met at the Panmunjon border crossing. The talks were
difficult: they began two hours late and then kept pausing for recess, said South Korea's state news agency.

It said the North's delegation demanded prompt action to reopen an industrial zone inside North Korea, which the North pulled its 53,000 workers from in April. They made clothing and electronics there for South Korean companies.

The South responded saying Pyongyang must first acknowledge the losses it caused and must promise not to freeze the zone again in future.

It is unclear if the two sides reached agreement.

Meanwhile, a senior United Nations representative has begun a visit to North Korea, the highest-level such visit in two years and the first since the U.N. imposed new sanctions this year.

U.N. Special Advisor Wilfred Lemke is surveying sports sites there, including a ski resort under construction, which the North hopes will one day draw foreigners.