Cabinet councilor

(The delay) is not because of us, but the United States,'' Ko Gyoung Bin, spokesman for the South Korean delegation to inter-Korean ministerial talks, quoted North Korea's Chief Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho Ung as saying on the first day of the talks, the 21st of their kind.

North Korea's Chief Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho Ung told South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae Joung that the South has failed to implement an agreement reached between the two sides, Ko Gyoung Bin told reporters.

The delegation, headed by Kim Ryong Song, a cabinet councilor, arrived in Incheon International Airport west of Seoul via Beijing shortly before 3 p.m.

The Cabinet-level talks, which will last until Friday, are being held between a five-member South Korea delegation led by Unification Minister Lee Jong Seok and a five-member North Korean mission headed by Kwon Ho Ung, a senior Cabinet councilor.

The North Korean delegation headed by Chief Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho Ung arrived in Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, shortly after 4 p.m.

Unification Minister Lee Jong Seok led the five-member South Korean delegation while Kwon Ho Ung, a senior Cabinet councilor, headed the five-member North Korean mission.

South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae Joung and North Korea's Chief Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho Ung each led five-member delegations for the 21st ministerial talks that started Wednesday at a Seoul hotel.

Kwon Ho Ung, a senior Cabinet councilor, led the five-member North Korean delegation.

Kwon Ho Ung, a senior North Korean Cabinet councilor, said in his speech at the ceremony that efforts should be made by all Koreans for ''national reconciliation, unity and unification'' on the occasion of the test runs.

The latest inter-Korean talks that will run through Monday are being held between the five-member South Korean delegation, headed by Lee, and the five-member North Korean delegation led by Kwon Ho Ung, a senior Cabinet councilor. The South Korean delegation arrived in Pyongyang on Friday afternoon.

South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae Joung led the South Korean delegation while senior cabinet councilor Kwon Ho Ung led the North's delegation at the talks.

The inter-Korean talks are being held between a five-member South Korean delegation, headed by Unification Minister Lee Jong Seok, and a five-member North Korean delegation led by Kwon Ho Ung, a senior Cabinet councilor.