European Union commissioner Christ Patten said that North Korea is making progress on human rights and two EU technical missions will soon start working in the isolated country.

The commissioner for external relations, returned on Friday from an EU visit to the Korean peninsula where the union hopes to encourage reconciliation between North and South Korea. The two Koreas have technically been at war for more than half a century.

He said his visit has started to open a dialogue between the EU and North Korea about human rights issues in the country.

He was speaking at a news conference in the Swedish town of Nykoping.

He also gave details of EU technical missions to North Korea. The first would provide advice and training for North Korean government officials on how to deal with international financial and economic issues.

The second would look at the energy sector.

Patten said the EU would also look at the working conditions of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) delivering humanitarian aid to the poverty-stricken Stalinist country.