Seoul  - North Korea on Wednesday accused South Korea of deliberately moving a border marker northward amid a backdrop of rising tension on the Korean Peninsula.

The incident was a "serious military provocation," Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency said. South Korea's military general staff rejected the accusation and accused its communist neighbour of "unnecessarily raising tension" by making false claims.

Seoul - The first direct talks between the governments of North and South Korea in more than a year were delayed Tuesday because of differences over procedural issues, South Korea said.

Seoul's delegation to the talks in the North Korean border city of Kaesong was initially unsure of who would take part from the North Korean side, a spokeswoman for the South's Unification Ministry said.

The two sides could also not agree in which building the discussions should be held, she said.

London, Apr. 21 : North and South Korea are preparing to hold their first official talks for over a year, amid rising cross-border and regional tensions.

A team headed by an official from Seoul''s unification ministry crossed the heavily fortified border for the meeting at a joint industrial estate just north of the frontier, reports The Telegraph.

Tuesday''s meeting comes amid icy cross-border relations and threats from Pyongyang''s military.

Seoul - A South Korean court Monday acquitted a man who had stood accused of damaging the country's economy with his critical reports as a blogger.

The court said it could not be proven that the man's articles had contained intentionally erroneous information.

Even if he had known the information was false, it could not be proven that he intentionally was seeking to damage the country's economy, the judge was cited by the Yonhap agency as saying.

Seoul - South Korean President Lee Myung Bak called a meeting Monday of the members of his cabinet responsible for security, a day before the first talks between North and South Korea in more than a year.

The focus of the meeting was the inter-Korean discussions planned for Tuesday in North Korea and security issues, the Yonhap News Agency reported, citing a government official in Seoul.

Seoul - North Korea proposed talks next week with South Korea over their jointly run industrial park in the North, Seoul said Saturday amid heightened tensions on the peninsula.

The meeting was suggested for Tuesday at the industrial complex at Kaesong near the inter-Korean border, South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

The South plans to accept the proposal, the domestic news agency Yonhap reported, citing an official at the presidential office.

The meeting would mark the first such inter-Korean dialogue since March 2008.