After four days of high-level talks, the two sides issued a four-sentence statement that set no date for the next ministerial meeting.

The South's Unification Ministry had said earlier in the day that no joint statement would be issued and described the mood as "not good."

The two sides said only that they "have sufficiently presented their positions and held sincere discussions on fundamental and actual matters linked to progress in inter-Korean relations."

They agreed "to continue to further examine ways to boost reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas and peace on the Korean peninsula."

The South has refused to make its first shipment of much-needed rice aid until the North begins honouring a six-nation nuclear disarmament deal reached in February.

The communist state says that the two issues are unrelated and that "foreign powers" -- a reference to the United States -- are interfering with the rice deal.