Seoul - North and South Korea have agreed to launch a new round of military issues talks after a previous round broke up without result, Seoul said Saturday.

The Defence Ministry said the new round would take place on Monday at a border point on the western coastline, near the South Korean city of Paju.

Pyongyang had proposed new talks on Friday, after the previous round had broken up without result some three weeks ago.

The talks are aimed at improving lines of communication between the armed forces of the two Korean states.

At the moment there are nine military "hotlines" between the two countries, the South Korean agency Yonhap noted, the goal being to prevent a military incident from escalating into a full-fledged conflict. But one of the hotlines in the western border sector has not functioned since last May. (dpa)