BEIJING (Yonhap) -- South Korea's point man on North Korea on Monday ruled out rice aid to the impoverished communist country unless Pyongyang admits its deadly provocations.
South Korea suspended unconditional aid in 2008 and slapped sanctions on the North last year in retaliation for the sinking of a South Korean warship that was blamed on the North.
The North has denied involvement in the sinking that killed 46 sailors, and also shelled a South Korean border island in November 2010, killing four South Koreans.
"We cannot give rice to people who fire a cannon" unless North Korea "acknowledges its wrongdoing in committing the provocations" and makes it clear they won't happen again, Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said in a meeting with South Korean residents in Beijing.
Still, South Korea has selectively allowed religious and private aid groups to deliver humanitarian and medical assistance to North Korea.
His comment came after South Korea adopted a more flexible policy toward Pyongyang to try to improve their frayed ties since the two deadly attacks.
Yu, who arrived in Beijing earlier on Monday for talks with Chinese officials, also urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs and provocative behavior.
"What we want is neither putting North Korea in trouble nor overthrowing" the North, Yu said as he called on the North to join the international community and improve the welfare of its 24 million people.
North Korea has repeatedly accused South Korea of plotting to absorb its impoverished northern neighbor as a way to achieve unification of the Korean Peninsula.
Yu also expressed hope that the North would respond to Seoul's sincere efforts to improve ties.
Yu was to meet with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun later in the day. The former ambassador to China also plans to meet with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, State Councilor Dai Bingguo and other officials during his three-day trip, according to his office.
The trip comes amid diplomatic efforts to resume the long-stalled talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs. Yu traveled to the United States earlier this month for similar talks with a U.S. official and senior members of Congress.
As a key ally of the North, China is widely believed to have significant leverage over its impoverished communist neighbor that has long been dependent on Chinese diplomatic support and economic aid.
China has been involved in multilateral diplomacy to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.
Also Monday, Wendy R. Sherman, a top U.S. State Department official, is set to arrive in Seoul for talks with South Korean officials to discuss alliance issues.