Although Stalinist North Korea refuses to resume six-nation talks on curbing its nuclear weapons programme, it agreed last month to resume military talks it broke off with South Korea in June 2004.

South Korea's Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-Ung lamented that military talks were bumpier than parallel efforts to boost economic exchanges.

Relations have improved since a 2000 summit between leaders of the North and South set the stage for a new era of reconciliation. But military exchanges have lagged far behind economic cooperation.

Nearly six years after the summit, North Korea still fields an army of some 1.2 million soldiers lined up against South Korea's 700,000-strong army backed by some 30,000 US troops stationed in the country.

"Reducing tensions between the two Koreas is a very important issue. Compared to economic and cultural exchanges, military dialogue and cooperation are not proceeding smoothly," Yoon was quoted as saying by defense officials.

Shortly after the 2000 summit, defense ministers from the two sides held landmark talks in South Korea and agreed to meet again. But the North refused to set a date for follow-up talks at ministerial level even though it sent generals to two rounds of talks in 2004.

"It is regrettable that North Korea has failed to keep its word on the meeting of South and North Korean defense chiefs," added Yoon, who was not attending the current two days of talks at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas

Tentative agreements were reached on the first day on several points raised by the Seoul delegation, said Colonel Moon Sung-Mook, spokesman for the South Korean side.

"The North agreed to discuss our proposals for a future meeting of South and North Korean defense chiefs, the setting up of a hotline between inter-Korean naval commands, sharing of an international radio frequency at sea and daily communication testing," said Moon, according to pool reports.

However, North Korean delegation leader Major General Kim Young-Chul used the talks to hit out at the United States.

"Smaller countries should join hands in the spirit of nationalism and self-reliance" and cooperate in the fight against "foreign powers" -- a North Korean reference to Washington -- he said.

South Korea is more interested in reducing tension in the Yellow Sea, a flashpoint in recent years for naval clashes.

Though the 248-kilometer (154-mile) land border known as the DMZ is recognized by both North and South, the western sea border is disputed. Naval clashes have been triggered by competition between fishing fleets from both sides, especially for lucrative blue crabs.

South Korea proposes mapping out a joint fishing area to eliminate the danger. It also wants to move ahead with the opening of cross-border rail lines, a step that requires a security guarantee from the North Korean military.

While the rail lines, one through the western section of the border and the other across the eastern part, have not been opened, parallel roads have been in use since last year for South Koreans traveling to the North.

In two previous rounds of general-level talks, both sides agreed on tension-reducing measures including stopping propaganda broadcasts along the border and setting up radio links between their navies.

The meeting comes at a sensitive time, with North Korea refusing to return to six-party nuclear talks unless the United States lifts sanctions imposed for alleged counterfeiting and money-laundering.

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