North Korea accepted South Korea's proposal for official talks, in what will be the first high-level contact between the two countries in more than two years, CNN reported Friday.
The acceptance came hours after the United States and South Korea delayed military exercises that were being conducted in the wake of a deadlock over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, Reuters reported.
The person-to-person talks will be Tuesday -- one day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's birthday -- at the Peace House, located on the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone between the two nations, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said.
The spokesman said the two sides agreed to work on the details of the talks "through the exchange of documents," and added the agenda items of the talks will be "issues related to improving inter-Korean relationships. including the Pyeongchang (Winter) Olympic Games."
Baik added he understands that "the North Korean side is also scheduled to have talks with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) next week."
When asked whether hotlines will be open on the weekend, he said he expected they would, as time to prepare for the first face-to-face meeting in over two years was running short.
The last high-level talks between the two countries took place in a deputy ministerial meeting in December 2015, at the jointly-run Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea.
The announcement of talks comes on the heels of other signs of nascent rapprochement between the two rivals.
In recent days a hotline between Seoul and Pyongyang, which had remained unused for two years, rang once again, in what has been widely regarded as a major diplomatic breakthrough, CNN reported. At least five calls have been placed through the cross-border channel since.
Contact between the two Koreas was initiated after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed hope during his annual New Year's Day address that a North Korean delegation might participate in next month's Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Two North Korea athletes, the figure skaters Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-sik, have qualified for the Games but missed the registration deadline, CNN reported.
But Kim did not change his position on the issue of nuclear weapons, Reuters reported.
President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, announced Thursday that annual large-scale military drills would now take place after the Olympics.
During the annual address, Kim also expressed a desire for a peaceful resolution to the decades-old conflict with South Korea. The Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953, meaning that the two nations are technically still at war.
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