President Roh Moo-hyun will hold a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang Aug. 28-30, the presidential office in Seoul said in a statement Wednesday.
"The two Koreas have agreed to hold a summit in Pyongyang Aug. 28-30. For the summit, Roh will remain in the North Korean capital for three days," said the statement.
"The second inter-Korean summit is expected to contribute to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. The talks will also provide momentum to settle the North Korean nuclear problem," it said.
The statement noted that Kim Man-bok, chief of the National Intelligence Service, visited Pyonyang twice earlier this month to fine-tune details of the summit and that the agreement was finalized on Aug. 5.
The South Korean government will soon establish panels to prepare the agenda of the Roh-Kim talks, the statement added.
North Korea also confirmed the inter-Korean summit immediately.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) affirmed the announcement by the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae that President Roh will travel to Pyongyang to meet his North Korean counterpart Kim Aug. 28-30.
"The meeting between the top leaders of the North and the South will be of weighty significance in opening a new phase of peace on the Korean Peninsula," Yonhap News quoted the KCNA as saying in a report, monitored in Seoul.
The summit will contribute to "co-prosperity of the nation and national reunification by expanding and developing the inter-Korean relations onto a higher stage in accordance with the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and in the spirit of 'by our nation itself,'" the KCNA said.
The first inter-Korean summit in 2000 between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il led to reduced military tension and an unprecedented range of economic, social and cultural cooperation.
The United States has welcomed the summit, expressing hopes for ultimate progress in peace on the Korean Peninsula.
"We have long welcomed and supported North-South dialogue and hope that this meeting will help promote peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, fulfilling the goals of the six-party talks," State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said in Washington Tuesday.
"This is the result of efforts and discussions that have been going on for some time and the United States was advised in advance by (South Korea) about this meeting," she said.