Officials from South and North Korea were set to meet in the border village of Panmunjom on Friday to discuss details of an upcoming meeting between their leaders.
The working-level dialogue comes four days before South Korean President Moon Jae-in will embark on a trip to Pyongyang for his third bilateral summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The third Moon-Kim summit is slated to be held Tuesday through Thursday. The two leaders held their first-ever summit in Panmunjom on April 27, then again on May 26.
In a file photo taken on Jan. 18, South Korean soldiers stand guard at the truce village of Panmunjom (Reuters)
Friday's meeting was largely aimed at discussing Moon's itinerary, along with the sequence of events to be held that will likely include a welcome dinner hosted by Kim.
It may also decide the list of South Korean delegates to visit the communist state.
Seoul has said the sides have agreed to keep the total number of South Korean visitors to under 200.
Already, several top political and business leaders are said to have found berths in the list. They include Lee Hae-chan, a former prime minister who was recently elected the chief of the ruling Democratic Party, and Lee Jae-yong, de facto head of Samsung Group, the country's largest business conglomerate.
South Korean delegates to Friday's meeting are headed by Kim Sang-gyun, a senior director of the National Intelligence Service who visited Pyongyang on Sept. 5 for a rare meeting with the North Korean leader.
The delegation to Friday's meeting also includes Yun Kun-young, a senior official from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae; Kwun Hyuk-ki, a Cheong Wa Dae official in charge of the presidential press center; and Choi Byeong-il, an official from the presidential secret service. (Yonhap)
