The Unification Ministry says working level talks with North Korea are under way in China over the North's proposal to hold contacts between South and North Korean religious groups.

A ministry official says an official of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea met with a representative of North Korea's Korean Christian Federation in China on Monday.

The official says representatives of other religious organizations including the Good News Mission and the National Council of Churches in Korea also had working-level meetings with their North Korean counterparts in China on Tuesday.

The ministry has also accepted reports by a Methodist association, the Presbyterian Church of Korea, and the International Love Foundation that they will hold contacts with the North either Wednesday or Thursday.

The ministry announced last week that North Korea had proposed inter-Korean contacts be held in China through the end of this month for religious exchanges. It also said despite North Korea's planned rocket launch, Seoul remains unchanged in its stance that nonpolitical cross-border exchanges will continue.