South and North Korea on Tuesday concluded emergency inter-Korean talks in the North's border city of Gaesong on relief measures for victims of last Thursday's blast in Ryongchon.

According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, North Korea agreed over the course of the meeting to accept relief aid from the South, but politely declined Seoul's offer to dispatch aid workers to the disaster-stricken region.

In Tuesday's talks, North Korean officials requested a list of materials and equipment to help with recovery efforts, including cement, bulldozers, diesel fuel, television sets and even blackboards.

South Korea, on its part, expressed its willingness to dispatch self-sufficient emergency aid workers with medicines and temporary housing.

The North thanked the South but declined the offer, saying that a sufficient number of medical personnel had already been sent to the area of Ryongchon.

North Korean officials were reported as saying that immediate needs for emergency medicine and basic necessities have been resolved, stressing instead the more pressing need for equipment to help in recovery efforts.

A South Korean official said Seoul would soon convey its position to Pyongyang after pondering the North's response.