Meanwhile, the first shipment of 500,000-ton food in aid promised by the Bush administration has arrived in the DPRK recently.

South Korea is worried that its role in East Asian affairs could decline in importance, analysts said.

The two sides have made unprecedented strides toward reconciliation under a past decade of liberal South Korean presidents, holding two summits in 2000 and 2007, reconnecting transportation links across their heavily armed frontier and reaching important agreements on inter-Korean relations.

However, deep-rooted disputes between the two sides will surface under certain circumstances. And the chilled relations would not be warmed up easily and the DPRK will continue to take a hard line toward the Lee administration, especially when it sees things will go its way, analysts said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2008)