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| Koreas hold first talks in a year | Koreas hold first talks in a year |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| North and South Korea are preparing to hold their first official talks for more than a year. | North and South Korea are preparing to hold their first official talks for more than a year. |
| Neither side has said what they plan to discuss at the meeting, which was requested by North Korea. | Neither side has said what they plan to discuss at the meeting, which was requested by North Korea. |
| The talks are being held at the Kaesong joint industrial zone, a factory complex built with South Korean money but located inside the North. | The talks are being held at the Kaesong joint industrial zone, a factory complex built with South Korean money but located inside the North. |
| Pyongyang, which has been toughening its rhetoric in recent days, said it wanted to deliver an important message. | Pyongyang, which has been toughening its rhetoric in recent days, said it wanted to deliver an important message. |
| The BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says the site is all that is left of the big, liberal-era economic co-operation projects championed by the two previous governments in the South. | |
| Since a conservative administration, with less appetite for unconditional aid, took over in Seoul last February, the North has cut off all official communication in protest. | Since a conservative administration, with less appetite for unconditional aid, took over in Seoul last February, the North has cut off all official communication in protest. |
| 'Act of war' | 'Act of war' |
| Tuesday's talks have been called by the North because it says it has an important announcement to make concerning the industrial zone. It has given no further details. | |
| Our correspondent says that in recent days North Korea has been turning up its angry rhetoric, reminding South Korea that its capital Seoul is just 50km (30 miles) from the border - well within artillery range. | |
| It has been angered by South Korea's plans to join a US-led initiative to track and stop ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction. | It has been angered by South Korea's plans to join a US-led initiative to track and stop ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction. |
| North Korea may want to use the meeting to raise further protests about such a move, which it says would constitute "an act of war", our correspondent says. | North Korea may want to use the meeting to raise further protests about such a move, which it says would constitute "an act of war", our correspondent says. |
| Some observers have suggested that it may want to raise the fate of a South Korean worker currently in its custody. | Some observers have suggested that it may want to raise the fate of a South Korean worker currently in its custody. |
| The man was detained at the joint industrial zone three weeks ago on suspicion of denouncing the North's political system. | The man was detained at the joint industrial zone three weeks ago on suspicion of denouncing the North's political system. |
| The talks also come at a time of heightened regional tensions after the North's controversial rocket launch on 5 April, which was widely seen by its neighbours as a disguised missile test. | |
| Following UN criticism, Pyongyang announced it was quitting international disarmament talks and restarting its nuclear programme. It has expelled US and UN nuclear monitors. |