[Published: Tuesday March 06 2018]
 Kim Jong-un to meet S Korea leader in April
Pyongyang 6 Mar (ANA) - The leaders of North and South Korea are due to meet at a summit of the two countries next month, Seoul's envoy has said after a rare trip to Pyongyang. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also said he was willing to talk to the US about getting rid of nuclear weapons, he said.
There have been previous programmes to freeze nuclear weapons, but the North has failed to keep to its commitments. The two countries also agreed to open a hotline between the two leaders.
The announcement follows a rare visit to Pyongyang by senior South Korean officials, who had dinner with the normally reclusive leader on Monday. They were the first officials from Seoul to meet Mr Kim since he came to power.
The trip was part of a wave of rapprochement moves surrounding last month's Winter Olympics. South Korea commented only briefly on the meeting, saying the visit was "not disappointing" and the two sides had reached a "satisfactory agreement" on holding future talks. The special envoys returned to Seoul on Tuesday morning, Yonhap news agency said.
The delegation is expected to visit Washington later this week to brief US officials on their talks in the North. The US has said it is "cautiously optimistic" about improving North-South contacts, but ruled out formal talks with Pyongyang unless it is ready to give up its nuclear weapons.
Throughout the Olympics the US maintained that North Korean gestures of rapprochement would carry little weight without such a commitment.(ANA)
FA/ANA/6 March 2018---------
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Russia/UK/Ukraine