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SEOUL, March 6 (AFP) - A top South Korean presidential aide met a North Korean official in Beijing last month as tension over the North's suspected nuclear weapons programme escalated, a presidential spokeswoman said Thursday.

Spokeswoman Song Kyoung-Hee of the presidential Blue House confirmed that Ra Jong-Yil, Senior Advisor for National Security, made contact with an unidentified North Korean official in the Chinese capital.

The contact was made on February 20, five days before Roh was sworn into office, according to the Joong Ang daily.

"What is confirmed is that Senior Advisor Ra met with someone from the North. However, the contact was nothing official and it didn't have any agenda," Song told journalists.

She said the contact was aimed at "opening a dialogue channel" between Pyongyang and Seoul's new government.

Roh's critics said the secret meeting contradicted election campaign pledges by President Roh that he would conduct North Korean policy openly and transparently.

Song stressed, however, that there was no change to Roh's commitment to keeping transparency in seeking progress in inter-Korean relations.

Ra admitted the meeting had taken place but refused to identify whom he met or whether the contact was made at the request of then President-elect Roh.

The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) accused Roh of hiding the truth about the secret contact, noting a news report that the government was seeking to arrange a second inter-Korean summit.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il promised to visit Seoul as a follow-up to a historic inter-Korean summit with Kim Dae-Jung in June 2000 in Pyongyang.

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