SEOUL, KOREA - Officials from North and South Korea have agreed to hold a ministerial-level meeting on June 12 in Seoul. The two sides reached an agreement on June 9 at the truce village of Panmunjom. This is the first talks between two Koreas after the June 2007 meeting. The announcement came after months of hostilities between the two sides, following the North's third nuclear test in February.
An official of the South Korean government said, "We talked about possible agendas, the size of delegation, detailed schedules, and itineraries, with the ministerial meeting on June 12 as a given." The South asked the North to send the head of the United Front Department of the Workers' Party, Kim Yang-gon, but the North expressed disapproval. The South's Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae will lead South Korea's delegation.
President Park Geun-hye will hold a meeting with ministers related to national security on the 10th and discuss the issue. At the meeting, ministers will also deliberate on the background of the North's sudden change of heart after month of tension.
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