South Korea said today it would send a special envoy to the North early next month for talks that Pyongyang said would cover the "grave situation" on the peninsula.
A South Korean presidential spokeswoman said Seoul would send President Kim Dae-jung's special adviser on security and North-South ties to the North to discuss family reunions and ways to ease tensions between the sides.
"We expect the talks to lay the groundwork for a resumption of stalled relations between South and North Korea," she said.
The talks in early April would included government-level officials and cover ways to reduce tension and how to implement deals struck during a June 2000 North-South summit, she said.
There was no mention of the recent defection to the South through China of 25 North Koreans and a crackdown on refugees on the border between China and North Korea.
Official talks between the North and South have stalled since a ministerial meeting ended in deadlock last November. Ties have soured between North Korea and the United States under President Mr George W. Bush's tougher stance on Pyongyang.