Preliminary talks set stage for rare summit

SEOUL — North and South Korea held talks Saturday over establishing a telephone hotline between their leaders and other communication issues ahead of a rare summit between the rivals later this month.

The closed-door talks between officials at a border village were part of preparatory discussions to set up the April 27 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The meeting, only the third summit between the Koreas since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, could prove to be significant in the global diplomatic push to resolve the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program.

A summit between Kim and President Trump is anticipated in May.

Before Saturday’s meeting, South Korea didn’t specify what would be discussed other than the hotline between the leaders. The Koreas have agreed not to disclose the contents of their preparatory talks until they reach an agreement, Moon’s office said. The Koreas agreed on the date of the summit in a high-level meeting last week.

South Korea, which has shuttled between Pyongyang and Washington to set up the talks, said Kim had expressed willingness to talk about giving up nuclear weapons during his upcoming meetings with Moon and Trump. The North has yet to officially confirm such intent or Kim’s interest in meeting Trump.