Heads of S. Korea, N. Korea to meet next month in Pyongyang

SEOUL, South Korea — The rival Koreas announced Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet in Pyongyang sometime in September, while their envoys also discussed the North’s nuclear disarmament efforts and international sanctions.

The push for what would be the leaders’ third summit since April comes amid renewed worries surrounding a nuclear standoff between the U.S. and Pyongyang.

The announcement released after nearly two hours of talks led by the rivals’ chiefs for inter-Korean affairs was thin on details. In a three-sentence statement, the two sides did not mention an exact date for the summit or details on how to implement past agreements.

Ri Son Gwon, the head of the North Korean delegation, told pool reporters at the end of the talks that officials agreed on a specific date for the summit in Pyongyang sometime within September, but he refused to share the date, saying he wanted to “keep reporters wondering.”

The South Korean unification minister, Cho Myoung-gyon, told reporters after the meeting that officials still had some work to do before agreeing on when exactly the summit would happen. He said the two sides will again discuss when the leaders would meet but didn’t say when.

The agreement announced Monday comes as the international community waits to see if North Korea will begin abandoning its nuclear weapons program, something officials suggested would happen after Kim’s summit with President Donald Trump in June.