The Unification Ministry will pursue expanded economic cooperation with North Korea at inter-Korean ministerial talks opening Friday.

A ministry official said Wednesday that the government will push mutually beneficial cooperation with Pyongyang and extensive economic aid proposed by Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok Monday.

The move is apparently Seoul's attempt to resume the six-way nuclear talks that have stalled over U.S. financial sanctions on Pyongyang.

In the ministerial talks, the ministry will also bring up South Korean prisoners of war and citizens abducted by the North, and the planned visit to Pyongyang by former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung if the North clarifies its stance.