SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has agreed to hold high-level talks with South Korea on March 29 at the border truce village of Panmunjom to prepare for a summit of their leaders planned for April, the South said on Saturday.

A team of three officials will be led by Ri Son Gwon, the chairman of North Korea’s committee for the peaceful reunification of the country, the North told its neighbour early on Saturday, the South’s Unification Ministry said.

“This morning, North Korea sent a message through a communication channel in Panmunjom agreeing to our suggestion made on the 22nd to hold high-level inter-Korea talks,” the ministry said in a statement.

The stakes are higher for a potential summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his North Korean counterpart that may take place by the end of May, however.

Trump this week named John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations famed for his hawkish views on Pyongyang, to replace White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.

Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 13, saying the two had disagreed over Iran and other foreign policy matters.

The Korean talks set for March 29 will precede musical performances in Pyongyang in early April by a group of South Korean singers making a reciprocal visit after the North sent performers to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Artists of both nations will collaborate for a show on April 3, the South’s Yonhap news agency said, citing an aide of President Moon Jae-in.

Moon plans to hold a summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un by the end of April. </s> "National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster of the United States, National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong of the Republic of Korea, and Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat Shotaro Yachi of Japan held a trilateral meeting on March 17 and 18 in San Francisco to discuss the permanent denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the planned inter-Korean summit and United States-Democratic People’s Republic of Korea summit," the release said.

On March 5-6, a high-ranking South Korean delegation visited North Korea for talks with Kim Jong-un. South Korean diplomats later delivered a message from Kim Jong-un to Donald Trump, in which the former expressed his willingness to hold direct talks. Trump accepted the invitation to meet with Kim by the end of May. </s> South Korea said Saturday that North Korea has accepted its proposal to hold high-level inter-Korean talks next week.

In a statement, South Korea's Unification Ministry said the talks are planned for Thursday.

The talks were first proposed by South Korea to be held in the Panmunjom truce village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

North Korea said it will be represented by a three-member delegation led by Ri Son Kwon, chairman of the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Committee.

South Korea stated earlier that its three-member delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.

The announcement came a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in teased the possibility of another meeting, this one among the United States, North Korea and South Korea.

Moon said negotiations are continuing ahead of the "historic talks" planned for next month with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He's expected to meet with Kim in April, the first time the North Korean leader has publicly met with a foreign head of state.

"Through these talks and future talks, we must end the nuclear and peace issue on the Korean Peninsula. It is necessary to make it possible for the two Koreas to live together peacefully without interfering with each other or damaging each other," Moon said this week.

The meeting between Moon and Kim is just a warm-up for the main event, however, with US President Donald Trump accepting an invitation to meet with the North Korean leader sometime before the end of May.

It will be the first time a sitting US president has met with a member of North Korea's ruling Kim family. </s> South Korea said Saturday that North Korea has accepted its proposal to hold high-level inter-Korean talks next week.

In a statement, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the talks are planned for Thursday.

The talks were first proposed by South Korea to be held in the Panmunjom truce village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

North Korea said it will be represented by a three-member delegation led by Ri Son Kwon, chairman of the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Committee.

South Korea stated earlier that its three-member delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.

The announcement came a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in teased the possibility of another meeting, this one among the United States, North Korea and South Korea.

Moon said negotiations are continuing ahead of the “historic talks” planned for next month with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He’s expected to meet with Kim in April, the first time the North Korean leader has publicly met with a foreign head of state.

“Through these talks and future talks, we must end the nuclear and peace issue on the Korean Peninsula. It is necessary to make it possible for the two Koreas to live together peacefully without interfering with each other or damaging each other,” Moon said this week.

The meeting between Moon and Kim is just a warm-up for the main event, however, with US President Donald Trump accepting an invitation to meet with the North Korean leader sometime before the end of May.

It will be the first time a sitting US president has met with a member of North Korea’s ruling Kim family. </s> North and South Korea on Tuesday began their first high-level talks in over two years to discuss Pyongyang’s participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics despite bilateral tensions, Reuters reported. The Winter Olympics are due in February in South Korea’s Pyeongchang County.

The two countries will also discuss ways to improve relations, said South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, who is leading Seoul’s delegation. Both sides have sent five-member delegations for the talks.

The discussions began at 10 am at the border truce village of Panmunjom. The two Koreas had last held formal talks in December 2015, and bilateral relations have been tense since then.

Ri Son-gwon, the chairman of the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, said the two countries would “engage in talks in a serious and sincere stance”, and that the dialogue would “go well”.

“We came to this meeting today with the thought of giving our brethren, who have high hopes for this dialogue, invaluable results as the first present of the year,” he was quoted as saying.

In his New Year’s address, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said he was willing to send a delegation to South Korea for the Winter Olympics. On January 3, South Korea proposed holding the high-level talks after North Korea reopened a communication channel with the South that it had closed down almost two years ago. </s> [SEOUL] 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 United States and South Korea announced 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 as preparations for an invasion of the North.

The inter-Korean summit is due to be followed by a face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kim by the end of May.

Following a period of heightened tensions stoked by the North's nuclear and missile tests last year, a rapid rapprochement has been underway on the Korean peninsula.

The North on Wednesday broke its silence on the diplomatic thaw with Washington and Seoul, with its official KCNA news agency saying Pyongyang was driving the peace initiative and rejecting suggestions that sanctions forced it to dialogue table.

As diplomats scurry to arrange the North-South talks as well as the proposed Trump-Kim meeting, the North's silence has raised concerns over its intentions.

North Korean state media have not yet directly mentioned the summits.

Analysts say the North is carefully watching to see how events - including the US-South Korea military drills - play out before making them public to its people.

State media in the North have not reported any public activities by Kim since March 6, when they said he held talks with South Korean envoys and made a "satisfactory agreement" on the proposed inter-Korean summit.

On Friday, Rodong Sinmun, the official daily of the North's ruling Workers Party, attacked the US for continued sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang despite diplomatic progress.

"The good atmosphere appearing on the Korean peninsula has been created by our aggressive efforts and initiatives. It has not been brought about by sanctions by the US and its sycophants," the newspaper said.

"The United States has miscalculated. The stronger the US pressure, the stronger the DPRK (North Korea)... If the US fails to draw a lesson and continues acting recklessly, it would surely be in for a greater humiliation and defeat."

The commentary came as President Trump named John Bolton, a foreign policy hawk, as his new national security adviser.

Mr Bolton, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, has championed pre-emptive strikes against North Korea and regime change in Iran - making him an outlier even among Republicans. </s> The United States and North Korea plan to hold high-level talks in Washington as soon as this week to discuss a second summit of their leaders, following a prolonged stalemate in nuclear talks, South Korean media said on Tuesday.

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▶ View Transcript </s> SEOUL, March 21 (UPI) -- There could be a three-way summit between the two Koreas and the United States, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday.

In a committee meeting held to prepare for the inter-Korean summit in April, Moon said the upcoming cross-border talks followed by a summit between the North and the United States is a historical event in itself.

"Depending on their outcomes, they may lead to a three-way summit of the South, North and the United States," he said, according to Yonhap.

The South Korean leader stressed the pivotal role of the scheduled summits in efforts to denuclearize North Korea, saying it cannot only be realized between the two Koreas.

"This would require the normalization of U.S.-North relations or even economic cooperation between them," he said.

Moon and North Korean Kim Jong Un are scheduled to hold talks in the truce village of Panmunjom late next month, while U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet Kim by the end of May.

With preparations underway, Seoul officials hope to hold high-level discussions with Pyongyang next Thursday to make arrangements for the cross-border talks, Maeil Business Daily reported.

The South will soon propose the meeting to the North through the Unification Ministry, Presidential Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Wednesday. </s> "The call has been made between the South and North’s liaison officers in Panmunjom," the official said.

According to the news agency, the phone call took place at 15:30 local time [06:30 GMT]. The two sides confirmed that the telephone and fax machines were operating normally.

No further details regarding the phone call have been provided.

Earlier in the day, a high-ranking North Korean official said that the country’s leader Kim Jong-un had ordered to reopen a contact channel between Pyongyang and Seoul to discuss issues related to the upcoming Olympic games in Pyeongchang.

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The day before, South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon proposed holding high-level talks on January 9 between the two countries at the demilitarized zone, in Panmunjom in order to discuss the issue of North Korean athletes participating in the upcoming Olympics, slated for February 9-25.

However, following the proposition, US Envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that the US would not recognize any possible talks between the North and the South unless the talks resulted in a ban of all nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula
North Korea accepts South Korea's proposal to hold high-level inter-Korean talks, scheduled to take place on March 29.