Korean border shooting likely an accident: Lawmaker

An exchange of gunfire across the heavily armed border between the two Koreas last week was likely an accident and not a deliberate provocation by the prickly North, a top lawmaker and former army general said on Monday.

The South Korean capital Seoul, about 100km (60 miles) south of the demilitarised zone, is on heightened alert ahead of next week's G20 summit over concerns Pyongyang may try to create an incident to embarrass its rival.

Washington has pressed Beijing to use its influence over the secretive state not to create an incident in the run up to the summit, a senior US official said in China, where secretary of state Hillary Clinton is holding talks with Chinese officials.

Hwang Jin-ha, who sits on Parliament's intelligence and North Korea committees, said Friday's skirmish was probably unintentional, doubting Pyongyang had meant it as part of a strategy to win concessions from the outside world.

Meanwhile, a senior South Korean diplomatic source said despite signs of a thaw in North-South ties, Seoul still did not believe Pyongyang was sincere about "major issues" and there was no immediate possibility of restarting disarmament-for-aid talks.

He told reporters in Seoul that Pyongyang must show it is sincere about denuclearising and acknowledge its role in sinking one of its warships earlier this year before international talks, stalled for two years, can resume.

However, he pointedly said an apology for the sinking was not a prerequisite to restart the so-called six-party talks involving the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia.

Pyongyang has said it is ready to return to the negotiating table in a move analysts said showed it was hurting from toughened sanctions imposed for a nuclear test last year and sinking the South Korean vessel in March.

Ties between the two Koreas sank to their lowest level in more than a decade when a South Korean navy ship was torpedoed in March, killing 46 sailors. Pyongyang denies it was to blame.

But tensions have eased in recent weeks, with the South offering its first substantial package of aid to its impoverished neighbour, and the start of state-backed Red Cross talks to discuss humanitarian projects.

In a visual sign that relations have improved, 100 ageing South Koreans and their families met at the weekend relatives they had been separated from since the 1950-53 Korean War.

The reunions, which are taking place for the first time in more than a year, will later this week involve 100 North Koreans seeking family members living in the South.

Friday's skirmish across the Demilitarised Zone threatened to spoil the conciliatory mood, but experts quickly played down the exchange. The United Nations has sent its own investigation team to the site of the skirmish.

"We're going to need to look at the result of the investigation on this, but I don't think there was much of an intention," said Hwang, a retired army general. "I don't think we need to link this incident to other matters."

Leaders of the world's top economies will be in Seoul for next week's two-day G20 summit.

The North has carried out provocations in the past to coincide with high-profile international events in the South, and analysts have said the North's young leader-in-waiting, Kim Jong-un, may seek to burnish his credentials with a hostile act.

The North's leader Kim Jong-il anointed his youngest son as the secretive state's next leader last month, and experts expect he will stick to the North's pattern of provocative behaviour to win concessions in negotiations with the outside world.

Washington has said the six-party talks which offer North Korea aid in return for disabling its nuclear arms programme hinge on the two Koreas first engaging in bilateral talks.

Unification minister Hyun In-taek told Parliament on Monday the South wasn't currently seeking summit talks with the North.