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.
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.
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.
