The 13th meeting for the Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee is unlikely to happen this month as tension continues on the Korean Peninsula.

An official at the Unification Ministry said Monday that working-level talks should have taken place by now if the economic talks are to proceed as scheduled.

The official said that North had made no proposal for working-level discussions, citing that in the past the two Koreas had met at the inter-Korean cooperation office in the North's border city of Gaesong to discuss the date and venue for the economic negotiations.

The prevailing opinion in and outside the government is that Inter-Korean dialogue will open only after tensions on the peninsula are eased by getting humanitarian projects back on track, including the construction of a permanent family reunion center in the Mount Geumgang resort and video reunions for separated families.

The last round of economic cooperation talks was held in June on Jeju Island.