Despite a nearly ten-month suspension of South-North talks and escalating tensions over the North's nuclear issue, inter-Korean cooperation projects are continuing.

According to the Unification Ministry Tuesday, the funds the government has spent on inter-Korean economic projects amounted to nearly one-hundred-60 billion won for the January-March period.

A ministry official said Tuesday that although inter-Korean discussions are in a stalemate, cooperation projects, including the development of the Gaesong industrial complex, are being funded smoothly as planned.

But the official said large projects between the two Koreas could witness serious difficulties if the North's nuclear deadlock continues or worsens.

Late last month, Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan suggested the need to resume inter-Korean dialogue when he met with North Korea's parliamentary leader Kim Yong-nam on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta.