Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . The formal announcement was made by South Korean officials during a news conference Monday morning. The agenda for such a meeting would likely include economic assistance and investment and holding reunions of families separated when war broke out on the peninsula a half-century ago. There have been limited talks between the sides in the past.
Meeting is without precedent The Cold War rivals have never held a leaders' summit.
The two Koreas remain officially at war, as their 1950-53 conflict ended with an armed truce that never has been replaced with a peace agreement. Officials in North Korea have criticized Seoul in the past for maintaining a close alliance with the United States. However, the north has accepted limited aid from the south to help it cope with a famine. South Korean elections imminent It was believed the announcement, just days before Thursday's general election in the south, would provoke outrage from the South Korean opposition. The government has been hinting for days that it was nearing agreement on reopening talks with the north.