Seoul - Christopher Hill, the chief US negotiator in the North Korean nuclear talks, arrived in the communist state Wednesday in an attempt save an agreement on the disablement of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

The US embassy in Seoul said Hill crossed the border between South and North Korea Wednesday mid-morning. He is attempting to overcome the current stalemate in bilateral talks.

Seoul  - Shares edged down Tuesday on the Seoul stock exchange following the US House's rejection of a 700-billion-dollar rescue package for the troubled financial sector.

Seoul - North Korea has made a surprise proposal to South Korea for military talks, South Korean officials said Friday.

The North Korean side suggested Tuesday as the date for talks on the current working-level military agreements between the two countries, the Defence Ministry in Seoul said.

It was not clear what precisely North Korea wanted to put forward, the national Yonhap news agency reported, quoting an official from the ministry.

South Korea had not as yet responded to the proposal. The intra- Korean dialogue is currently on ice.

Seoul - North Korea's intentions to restart its nuclear programme are bringing negotiations to the brink of a breakdown, said South Korea's top diplomat Friday.

"We are at a difficult situation where we may be going back to square one," said South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan Friday in a speech at Seoul National University.

Yu said North Korea was possibly making a stratgic move ahead of the upcoming presidential election, in order to win a better negotiating position.

Seoul  - North Korea said Friday that it had begun work to restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor because the United States had failed to keep promises it made in nuclear talks.

The reactor, which North Korea shut down last year as part of those talks, can supply plutonium that can be used to make nuclear bombs.

Seoul - Shares fell more than 2 p