South Korea's embassy in Moscow denied reports that Seoul paid a ransom to Taliban insurgents to secure the release of Korean Christian volunteers in central Afghanistan.

Taliban militants have agreed to release all 19 South Korean hostages being held in Afghanistan, Seoul's Yonhap agency said, citing a spokesman for the South Korean president.

South Korean officials have resumed direct talks with the Taliban in central Afghanistan on 19 Koreans who have been held hostage by the militants for over a month.

South Korea has announced a multi-million dollar aid package for North Korea, where hundreds of thousands of people are suffering because of floods. The United States has also pledged to send help. VOA's Kurt Achin has more from Seoul.

South Korean officials say President Roh Moo-hyun will travel by land to North Korea for a rare meeting with leader Kim Jong Il later this month.

South Korean negotiators are today meeting for a second time with Taliban militants who have been holding 21 South Koreans captive for more than three weeks. Today's talks follow a first round on August 10.

The leaders of North and South Korea are to hold a rare summit at the end of this month. Reports said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will meet August 28-30 in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

A South Korean report says Taliban militants holding 21 South Korean aid workers in Afghanistan have proposed exchanging some female hostages for imprisoned female supporters of the insurgents.

International military authorities are investigating a brief exchange of gunfire fired across the tense border dividing North and South Korea. South Korean military authorities say border guards from North and South Korea briefly exchanged gunfire Monday along the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, which bisects the Korean peninsula.

South Korean officials say they have made contact with at least one of the 21 Korean hostages kidnapped last month by Taleban insurgents in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he is doing everything possible to free 21 South Koreans, many of them ailing, who have been held hostage by the Taleban for more than two weeks.

Afghan and South Korean officials, and the Taleban kidnappers of the 21 remaining South Korean hostages are still seeking a meeting place for negotiations to release the hostages.