The fourth round of inter-Korean working-level talks to discuss operations at the joint Gaeseong Industrial Complex opened Monday in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong. The third round of talks was held seven months ago.

Seventeen South Korean delegates including support staff took the Gyeongui Highway to the North to begin talks at 10 a.m.

Leading the talks are Kim Young-tak from South Korea's Unification Ministry and Pak Chol-su, vice chief of North Korea's Central Guidance Bureau for Special Zone Development.

Seoul will propose as agenda for the talks cross-border passage, communications, customs clearances and accommodations for North Korean laborers at the Gaeseong complex.

Pyongyang is expected to call for a hike in worker wages.

The meeting is the first government-level inter-Korean talks following the North's military provocation on the Yellow Sea last week.