South Korea tried to link its food aid to the North to Pyongyang making progress toward nuclear disarmament _ but the North resisted the link, dragging their economic talks into a fifth day Sunday. The rival countries were working out the wording of an agreement to be issued at the end of the talks, according to pool reports, according to AP. Impoverished North Korea's top priority at the talks was getting food aid from the South. But Seoul has sought in the discussions to persuade the North to implement an earlier promise to start dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Meetings were still underway at the economic talks in Pyongyang late Saturday _ more than eight hours after the negotiations had been scheduled to end. South Korea's chief delegate, Chin Dong-soo, said the talks seemed headed into Sunday. «Differences were narrowed on some issues, but other issues need more discussion,» he told reporters, according to pool reports based on South Korean briefings. South Korea has decided in principle to accept the North's request for 400,000 tons of rice. -- SPA
