Nuclear impasse hangs over two Koreas' talks

SEOUL, May 29 (Reuters) - The two Koreas will try to mend relations at cabinet-level talks today, but the North's refusal to act on a nuclear disarmament deal could lead Seoul to delay rice aid promised to its impoverished neighbour.

South Korea had pledged to send 400,000 tonnes of rice this month to help North Korea battle its chronic food shortages.

''The rice will be sent to the North. But the shipment is delayed because of various situations,'' a senior South Korean Unification Ministry official told Yonhap news agency yesterday.

The South has said it would suspend the aid if its reclusive communist neighbour behaved badly. North Korea's firing of a short-range missile last week is likely to have exacerbated tensions between the two states, which remain technically at war.

The ministerial talks are slated to run through Friday.

Past sessions have been marked by drama, such as a Pyongyang walk-out last year when Seoul said it would suspend rice handouts due to the North's test-firing of ballistic missiles in July 2006.

South Korea has been hesitant to resume regular rice aid because North Korea missed a deadline to start shutting down its reactor and source of plutonium for bombs that was set in a six-country deal reached in February.

The two Koreas shared a moment of reconciliation on May 17 when they sent the first trains across their border since the 1950-1953 fratricidal war, which ended in a truce and not with a peace treaty.

South Korea, which promised about 80 million dollars in aid to the North to allow the run on tracks built by Seoul, wants to see regular rail travel between the two. North Korea has given no sign that it will agree to even one more run.

The meeting will start with a welcoming banquet tonight in Seoul.

REUTERS CS SBA BST0705