Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and French special envoy on North Korea Jack Lang have agreed to continue bilateral cooperation to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

During a luncheon meeting on Wednesday, Yu said that the government’s humanitarian aid to North Korea will continue, but the South will have to link its large-scale business projects in the North with progress on the nuclear issue.

The minister explained Seoul’s willingness to cooperate with the international community in providing aid to the communist state.

Lang said France will have to assess the food and human rights conditions in the North in order to set its North Korean policy, stressing the importance of cooperation between South Korea and France.

Lang was appointed the French president’s special envoy last month.

The new envoy is visiting the participants of the six-party nuclear talks. He is planning to visit North Korea next month.