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| Two Koreas agree rare high-level talks | Two Koreas agree rare high-level talks |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Officials from North and South Korea are to hold rare high-level talks on Wednesday, Seoul has announced, ahead of family reunions planned for later this month. | Officials from North and South Korea are to hold rare high-level talks on Wednesday, Seoul has announced, ahead of family reunions planned for later this month. |
| The meeting will take place at the border village of Panmunjom, a Unification Ministry spokesman said. | The meeting will take place at the border village of Panmunjom, a Unification Ministry spokesman said. |
| No agenda had been set but the planned family reunions were expected to be discussed, he said. | |
| The agreement followed a proposal from North Korea to hold talks. | The agreement followed a proposal from North Korea to hold talks. |
| One South Korean official said the invitation had arrived without warning, and had taken the government in Seoul by surprise, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul reports. | |
| There is hope in Seoul that it might kick-start a regular dialogue, our correspondent adds. | |
| The two Koreas are due to hold reunions of families divided by the partitioning of the Korean Peninsula at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War for five days from 20 February. | The two Koreas are due to hold reunions of families divided by the partitioning of the Korean Peninsula at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War for five days from 20 February. |
| The last such reunions took place in 2010. But these reunions coincide with the start of US-South Korea joint military drills - annual exercises which anger North Korea. | The last such reunions took place in 2010. But these reunions coincide with the start of US-South Korea joint military drills - annual exercises which anger North Korea. |
| Many in South Korea see those drills as the real test of Pyongyang's new approach, our correspondent says. | |
| Last week Pyongyang threatened to cancel the reunions, warning that "dialogue and exercises of war" could not go hand in hand. | Last week Pyongyang threatened to cancel the reunions, warning that "dialogue and exercises of war" could not go hand in hand. |
| South Korea's deputy national security advisor will lead Seoul's delegation to Wednesday's talks, the ministry spokesman said. | South Korea's deputy national security advisor will lead Seoul's delegation to Wednesday's talks, the ministry spokesman said. |