North, S. Korea to talk in Seoul next week

Seoul, March 24: North Korea on Saturday agreed to hold high-level talks with Seoul next week to discuss logistics for a rare inter-Korean summit, the South’s Unification Ministry said, as a diplomatic thaw on the peninsula gathers pace.

The two sides will each send a three-member delegation to the border truce village of Panmunjom on Thursday for talks aimed at paving the way for a summit due in late April, it said.

South Korea on Wednesday had proposed holding high-level talks with the North to discuss details including the summit’s dates and agenda.

The talks will take place at the Unification Pavilion building on the northern side of Panmunjom, which sits on the border, with Seoul's delegation led by unification minister Cho Myoung-gyon and his counterpart Ri Son Gwon heading Pyongyang’s.

The decision by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet came amid a rapid rapprochement kicked off with the recent Winter Olympics in the South.

The US and South Korea announced on Tuesday that their annual joint military drills would go ahead next month, but the main exercise will be shortened by a month.

The exercises have caused tensions for years, with Pyongyang condemning them. — AFP

THE INTER-KOREAN summit is due to be followed by a face-toface meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kim by the end of May.