Koreas to hold talks to set up summit between Kim, Moon

SEOUL, South Korea — The rival Koreas have agreed to hold high-level talks this week to prepare for an April summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, South Korea said Saturday.

The summit aims to improve relations and resolve the standoff over the North’s nuclear program.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will lead the South’s delegation at the meeting Thursday at the border village of Panmunjom, where officials will discuss the date and specific agendas of the summit, according to the Unification Ministry.

The North’s delegation will be led by Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the agency that deals with inter-Korean affairs.

The rivals agreed to a summit when Moon’s envoys visited Kim in Pyongyang earlier this month.

South Korean officials also brokered a potential meeting between Kim and President Donald Trump.

The leaders of the two Koreas have held talks only twice since the 1950-53 Korean War.

It’s unclear whether the leaders’ meetings between Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington, if they take place, could lead to any meaningful breakthrough after an unusually provocative year.

There are also concerns in South Korea over whether the appointment of John Bolton, President Trump’s hawkish replacement for national security adviser H.R. McMaster, could potentially complicate efforts to set up talks between Trump and Kim, given his past bellicose rhetoric about North Korea.