SEOUL, May 17 (UPI) -- North and South Korea agreed Wednesday on a visit by former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung to Pyongyang late next month.
During a four-day visit, Kim is aiming for breakthroughs in inter-Korean relations and the nuclear standoff, officials in Seoul said at the end of two-day talks in the North's Mount Kumgang resort.
Officials from the two sides will meet again later this month in a North Korean border city to set specific dates for the visit, the Unification Ministry said. They will also discuss the route of the proposed travel.
Kim hopes to reach Pyongyang by train in a bid to highlight his efforts to break the Cold War deadlock on the Korean peninsula. But the North dismissed the idea, as its military is concerned about possible leaks of military information through the use of cross-border trains.
Kim, who visited North Korea in June 2000 for the first inter-Korean summit with Kim Jong Il, won the Nobel Peace Prize that year for his efforts to improve the long-frigid relations with the North.
Under the summit agreement, the two Koreas reconnected their railways and roads and launched a joint tour project on Mount Kumgang.
Inter-Korean economic ties improved significantly after their landmark summit, but the rivals have yet to come up with any substantial measures to reduce military tensions.
