Two Koreas hold talks on border as military tensions ease

South and North Korea will hold working-level talks in the border truce village of Panmunjom today - the first such dialogue in more than two years.

The two Koreas agreed to send three delegates each to Panmunjom, a traditional point of contact on their border, for talks aimed at paving the way for higher-level negotiations, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.

Pyongyang conveyed its decision to the South through a hotline between the two sides that was reopened on Friday, the ministry said. The hotline was cut in March as military tensions soared on the divided peninsula.

The two nations unexpectedly agreed to opening a dialogue on Thursday, with South Korea responding to a Northern initiative by offering a ministerial-level meeting in Seoul on June 12.

A spokesman for Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea then suggested initial lower-level talks today in the Kaesong joint industrial zone.

The proposed agenda for the talks involves the reopening of Kaesong, the resumption of tours to the North's Mount Kumgang resort and renewed cross-border family reunions.