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SEOUL, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A South Korean delegation left for North Korea on Friday for three days of talks aimed at putting ties back on track, derailed after a deadly naval clash in June and mixed messages from the communist government in Pyongyang.

The 20-member South Korean mission travels to North Korea amid the most intensive diplomacy on the peninsula in nearly two years, with Seoul's allies, the United States and Japan, also renewing dialogue with Pyongyang after a long hiatus.

A South Korean team, headed by Assistant Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo, aims to set a new round of ministerial talks and get the North to recommit to stalled goodwill projects, including family visits and a North-South railroad project, officials said.

But the three-day talks that end on Sunday must also overcome lingering suspicions over a North Korean naval attack on a southern ship on June 29 that killed 18 sailors on the two sides.

North Korea voiced "regret" for the clash last week, clearing the way for this weekend's working-level talks. But it did not accept blame for the clash or punish the perpetrators as demanded by South Korea's government and its angry populace.

Rhee told reporters before the delegation left Seoul he would "be consistent in pressing for steps that are acceptable to the public" in discussing the naval clash with the North Koreans.

But in a fresh example of North Korea's unpredictability on the eve of the first inter-Korean talks since April, Pyongyang issued a report spelling out its rejection of a 49-year-old North-South maritime border over which they clashed.

The North's "White Paper" on the Yellow Sea border repeated its declaration of 1999 that the line adhered to by South Korea since 1953 is invalid and must be redrawn through negotiations between North Korea and the United States.

Asserting North Korea's claim that the actual maritime border lies far south of the current one, it said the South's plans to begin recovering the sunken ship would violate North Korea's waters. The 60-day salvage operation could begin on Monday.

The Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Despite the potential for acrimony, many South Korean observers say they expect progress from the meeting in North Korea's Mt Kumgang resort near the South Korean border, because North Korea is also reopening contacts with the United States and Japan and trying to repair its ruined economy.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi held talks with their North Korean counterpart on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Brunei. The meetings were expected to lead to a resumption of their talks with North Korea.

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