Lee Myung-Bak, a conservative who takes office on February 25, said "utmost efforts" would be made to promote dialogue and exchanges with the impoverished hardline communist state.

"We will continue to persuade North Korea that giving up its nuclear weapons programmes will benefit both the regime and its people," he told a press conference.

Lee restated a pledge to raise the North's per capita income to 3,000 dollars within a decade in return for full denuclearisation. The US State Department estimated per capita gross national income at 914 dollars in 2004.

"All 50 million South Koreans and 20 million North Koreans want to live a better and more humane life after giving up nuclear weapons rather than to live under a nuclear threat," he said.

Six-nation negotiations on scrapping the nuclear programme in return for aid and diplomatic benefits are currently stalled.

US-supervised work to disable the main atomic facilities at Yongbyon is well under way, but the North missed an agreed December 31 deadline to give a full declaration of all nuclear programmes and materials.

Lee said he remains "patient" and promised stronger cooperation with other negotiators -- the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

Liberal governments in Seoul over the past decade have followed a "sunshine" engagement policy with the North despite its missile launches and nuclear test.

Lee has promised a firmer line, saying he will seek greater reciprocity in relations and link aid more closely to denuclearisation.

On Wednesday his transition team announced plans to abolish the unification ministry which handles relations with Pyongyang. It will be merged with the foreign ministry to try and secure greater policy consistency.

Lee denied the move signals a downgrading of relations with the North.

"The proposed government shake-up is based on forecasts that the next administration will have to prepare for expanding inter-Korean exchanges and eventual unification," he said.

"The unification ministry will not vanish but merge into the foreign ministry, by which the inter-Korean issue can be handled in an upgraded way. Now, all government agencies will be involved in North Korean affairs."

Answering a question, Lee said he would welcome any decision by the North to send a special envoy to his inauguration but no approach had yet been made.