TOKYO (Sputnik) – The preparatory meeting for high-level talks, proposed by Pyongyang hours earlier and later reported by Yonhap as accepted by Seoul, would be the first high-level bilateral talks since August.
Long-simmering tensions between the two Koreas escalated in late August when cross-border artillery fire erupted along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), prompting Pyongyang to declare what it described as a "semi-state of war."
The two countries defused tensions after a series of talks.
The neighboring nations remain legally at war. No peace treaty was signed after the 1950-53 Korean War, which separated over 66,000 families. A series of family reunions were held in October following the August talks.
