The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) will hold a new round of general-level military talks on Friday over tension reduction on the Korean Peninsula, the UNC said Thursday.
The UNC proposed the meeting during latest general-level military talks with DPRK on Monday, the UNC said in a news release.
The DPRK's Korean People's Army (KPA) accepted the UNC proposal for Friday's military talks, it said.
The KPA and the UNC held a colonel-level meeting on Thursday at 10 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) in preparation for Friday's talks, the UNC said, without giving more details about whereabout of the working-level meeting.
The two sides talked about agenda items and the establishment of a administrative protocol for the upcoming general-level talks, it said.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Genenral Johhny Welda will lead the UNC delegation to participate in Friday's negotiation with the DPRK, according to the news release.
"The purpose of the meeting is to discuss practical armistice- related issues, reaffirm commitment to the general officer forum and reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula," said the news release.
The UNC and DPRK held a rare general-level military talks on Monday.
The UNC said Monday's 32-minute meeting, which was the first time that the two sides held such talks since 2002, was "positive" and can be "useful" in building trust and preventing misunderstanding as well as introducing transparency regarding the intentions of both sides.
However, following Monday's meeting, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency quoted unnamed defense officials as saying that the talks finished without "specific outcome" despite the two sides agreed to hold another round of general-level talks.
(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2009)