SEOUL, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- North and South Korea are expected to have high-level talks next month to discuss cross-border detente backed by progress in the nuclear standoff.
The North has agreed to hold another round of Cabinet-level talks, the highest channel of regular dialogue between the two Koreas, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Friday.
The North's move was a response to an earlier proposal by the South to have the high-level talks in August to coordinate cross-border reconciliation and cooperation, in the hope it will help secure a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.
In a counterproposal, the North suggested the talks take place in mid-September in Pyongyang, the ministry said.
"The two sides will decide on a concrete schedule after consultations in the form of document exchange," it said in a statement.
Ministry officials said they would use the inter-Korean talks to "upgrade their relations" to boost the crucial process to make their peninsula nuclear free.
The last inter-Korean ministerial talks held in Seoul ended in early June without tangible results in the wake of tensions over the North's nuclear weapons programs.
