South Korean officials said Wednesday that North Korea has proposed the immediate and full-scale resumption of inter-Korean humanitarian projects.

During a plenary session of the ongoing inter-Korean ministerial talks, North Korea also offered to hold a meeting in Pyongyang in March to discuss ways of boosting economic ties.

A high-ranking Seoul government official stressed that the two sides did not discuss the resumption of Seoul's food and fertilizer aid to North Korea during the two-hour session, but sounded optimistic about the upcoming negotiations.

In a keynote speech, the North's top negotiator Kwon Ho-ung proposed to resume full-scale humanitarian projects immediately after the four-day ministerial talks end, as well as a meeting for economic cooperation at the earliest possible date in Pyongyang.

Kwon did not specify which humanitarian projects in his keynote speech, but analysts said that the North hopes to link the resumption of family reunions with Seoul's food and fertilizer aid to Pyongyang.

Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, Seoul's top negotiator, proposed to first conduct test runs of the reconnected cross-border railways.

As a precondition for the operation of cross-border railways, Lee said it is necessary to make headway in inter-Korean economic projects, such as exchanging raw materials from the South for minerals from the North.

The ministerial level talks between the two Koreas, which resumed after seven months Tuesday, will continue until March 2nd.