BEIJING, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - North Korea and South Korea are holding last-gasp talks on whether to march together at the Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday, officials said.

Last month the North rejected the South's call for discussions on a joint march, originally suggested by International Olympic Committee head Jacques Rogge, as ties between the two sides worsened.

But the idea remains alive

'We are all trying our best to make it true,' South Korean Olympic Commitee president Lee Yun-Taek told China's Xinhua news agency late Tuesday.

The South's chef-de-mission Kim Jung-Hyung added: 'The International Olympic Committee are also working to solve this problem.'

The two Koreas, still technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict, marched together at the Olympic opening ceremonies in 2000 and 2004.

They agreed in principle during their second-ever summit last year to field joint athletic and supporter squads for the Beijing Games.

But ties plummeted after South Korea's conservative President Lee Myung-Bak took office in February and promised a tougher line on Pyongyang.

The fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist in the North last month has further soured relations.

North Korea has sent 60 athletes to China, its closest political ally.

They will compete in women's football, judo, weightlifting, wrestling, archery, shooting, boxing, table tennis, the marathon, gymnastics, diving and synchronised swimming.

Olympic committee member Yun Yong-Gok, quoted recently by Xinhua, said the North expects to win at least 10 medals in Beijing.

South Korea has about 260 athletes in the Chinese capital.