North and South Korea have held their first cabinet-level talks for nine months.

Both sides sounded positive after Monday's 70-minute session.

Kim Ryong-song, leader of the North Korean delegation, told reporters: "You may think optimistically."

I am a man who usually brings many presents and leaves them behind when I leave

North Korean negotiator Kim Ryong-song

A South Korean spokesman said he expected progress to be made in the remaining two days of talks, though he did not elaborate.

Senior negotiators from both sides said new agreements were possible, but it was more important to focus on implementing deals made before reconciliation talks stalled.

High on the agenda at the Seoul talks are moves to reconnect a cross-border railway and to set a date for further reunions between family members separated since the Korean War ended 50 years ago.

The talks came after a recent increase in North Korean diplomatic activity, with the government of Kim Jong-il saying it also wants to resume high-level contacts with the United States and Japan.

Close watch

Progress will be monitored closely not just in Korea, but also by officials in the US who have yet to announce if they will send a senior envoy to the country denounced as part of an "axis of evil" by President George W Bush.

The talks mark a lowering of tension between the two Koreas since sailors from both sides were killed in a naval gun battle in June.

Many promises were reached in the past, but few were implemented

South Korean negotiator Jeong Se-hyun

Ahead of the talks, North Korea's Kim Ryong-song was asked about the prospects of success.

"I am a man who usually brings many presents and leaves them behind when I leave," he replied.

But Jeong Se-hyun, who heads South Korea's Unification Ministry, said the talks should focus on previous agreements rather than attempt to make new promises.

"Our delegates, including me, feel burdened because many promises were reached in the past, but few were implemented," he said.

Mr Kim concurred, saying: "Yes, I agree. Producing an agreement is important, but more important is implementing it."

The two officials said they hoped that the Seoul talks would build upon a historic inter-Korean summit accord reached on 15 June, 2000.

The summit between the leaders of the two Koreas launched a series of contacts and exchanges between the two nations which are technically still at war, but reconciliation stalled early last year.

The BBC correspondent in Seoul, Caroline Gluck, said sceptics were looking for action and not just words from the North, as signs that it genuinely wants better relations with the South.