South Korea yesterday began talks on food aid and other issues after the South rejected its neighbour's demand for a prior commitment to provide assistance, reports from Pyongyang said.

South Korea wants to use this week's talks to press the communist state to start shutting down its nuclear programme after missing an April 14 deadline. Press reports said it may try to use its desperately-needed rice aid as a lever.

The session was supposed to start at 10am but was delayed after the North demanded that texts of opening speeches be exchanged in advance, the reports said.

The North also wanted to see a draft of agreement on the South's provision of rice aid, and a draft of a joint press statement to be issued at the end of the four-day economic cooperation talks.