The 16th inter-Korean ministerial talks that open Tuesday in Pyongyang will mark the 500th dialogue between the two Koreas.

A government official on Monday said the two sides held talks 359 times between the first contact in 1971 between Red Cross societies and the 2000 inter-Korean summit.

Since 2000, however, the two sides have held 140 meetings in the wake of the growing reconciliatory mood on the peninsula.