Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said Wednesday that considering the progress in the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, the time is coming for Seoul to provide rice for Pyongyang.

He told a regular news briefing that the government's basic position is to provide rice for the North in a way that would advance the six-party process.

He said that South Korea will apply that basic principle in a flexible manner.

Song said that Seoul will take advantage of official or unofficial, multilateral or bilateral contacts between the six-party countries, so that there will be concrete progress when the talks resume.

In particular, the minister said that Seoul will be flexible in implementing the initial steps under the February 13 agreement, rather than insisting on meeting fixed deadlines.

He added that various forms of contacts among the six parties would help facilitate a consensus if and when the nuclear talks are actually held.