North Korean officials have held a rare meeting with members of the American-led United Nations Command.

朝鲜官员与以美国为首的联合国司令部举行了一场罕见的会谈。

The talks were to discuss the sinking of a South Korean warship¹ in March, which Seoul has blamed on the North.

The meeting was intended to pave the way for higher-level talks between senior military officers.

It lasted about 90 minutes, official said. No details about the talks were released.

The UN Command enforces the armistice²（停战） that ended the Korean War nearly 60 years ago; talks between it and North Korea are used to help ease tensions.

Repeated denials

US Colonel Kurt Taylor and North Korea's Colonel Pak Ki-yong met at the truce³ village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone（非军事区） .

The meeting had originally been due to take place on Tuesday, but North Korea pulled out at short notice, citing administrative⁴ reasons for the delay, UN officials said.

North Korea has strongly denied involvement in the 26 March sinking of the Cheonan warship, which killed 46 South Korean sailors.

International investigators⁵ say the ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo⁶（鱼雷，水雷） .

Following the sinking, North Korea suspended all contact with its southern neighbour, in response to Seoul's trade suspension.

A statement from the UN Security Council, released last week, praised South Korean "restraint（抑制，约束） " over the incident.

But it did not explicitly⁷（明确地） condemn⁸ North Korea.
 
'Deterrence'

Pyongyang has also complained about forthcoming naval⁹ exercises by the US and South Korea, the location of which has not yet been confirmed.

The drill, which analysts¹⁰ say is a show of strength in light of the alleged¹¹ attack, comes despite strong protest from China.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates would visit South Korea next week, when they would "discuss and likely approve" combined naval and air exercises in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea.