3rd LD: S. Korea, DPRK agree to hold talks on DPRK's participation in S. Korea-hosted Winter Olympics

SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to hold talks this week about the DPRK's participation in the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics, according to Seoul's unification ministry.

South Korea agreed to the DPRK's revised proposal earlier in the day for holding vice ministerial-level talks from 10:00 a.m. local time Wednesday at Peace House, a building in the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom, the ministry said in a statement.

Seoul proposed last week to hold a working-level dialogue on Monday to discuss details on the DPRK's dispatch of its delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games slated to run from February to March in the country's eastern county of Pyeongchang.

Pyeongyang made a counterproposal to talk first about the dispatch of its art troupe to Pyeongchang, about which the inter-Korean talks were currently underway, while holding the vice ministerial-level meeting on Wednesday.

For the vice ministerial-level talks, the three-member DPRK delegation will be led by Jon Jong Su, vice chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

The South Korean delegation will be headed by Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung.

South Korea and the DPRK held the ministerial-level dialogue last Tuesday, agreeing that the DPRK will dispatch its delegation, including athletes, cheering squads and arts group, to South Korea-hosted winter sports event.

The two sides also agreed to hold a separate dialogue on military affairs to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Enditem