It would be the second official talks between the rival Koreas since a pro-US, conservative government was inaugurated in Seoul in February with a pledge to get tougher on the North.

The first meeting also was held between the countries' military officers in early October but ended without much progress. The North used the meeting to criticise South Korean civic activists for sending propaganda leaflets critical of its communist regime across the Korean border, threatening to expel South Koreans working at joint projects in the North in retaliation.

On Monday, the sides planned to meet in a location inside the demilitarised zone bisecting the Korean peninsula to discuss how to overhaul and upgrade military communication lines between the countries, a South Korean Defence Ministry official said.

The two Koreas have operated nine military hot lines but some of them are now out of service for technical reasons, said the official, who declined to give his name citing department policy.

The North suspend reconciliation talks with the South following the inauguration of the government of President Lee Myung Bak, who sought to link aid to the North to progress in the North Korean nuclear issue.

Earlier this month, the North warned it would cut any remaining relations unless South Korea abandons what it calls a policy of 'reckless confrontation'.

The two Koreas are still technically at war because their 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. -- AP