N. Korea: Talks with US to resume on Oct 5

North Korea on Tuesday said that its working-level negotiations with the US would resume later this week.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the US agreed to have preliminary contact on October 4 and hold working-level negotiations on October 5," North Korea's First Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui said in a statement, according to state-run KCNA news agency.

Choe did not mention the venue for the upcoming talks.

She, however, said that the "working-level negotiations would accelerate the positive development of the DPRK-US relations", according to Yonhap news agency.

Pyongyang recently expressed its intent to return to dialogue with Washington after a period of tension following its missile test launches in protest against the joint military drills between the US and South Korea.

Seoul, meanwhile, welcomed the proposed resumption of dialogue between the two countries.

"(South Korea) welcomes the agreement between North Korea and the US to hold working-level negotiations on October 5," Ko Min-jung, spokeswoman for the presidential office, said in a message sent to reporters, according to Yonhap.

"We hope the sides will make practical progress at the upcoming working-level negotiations for complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of lasting peace," she added.

The upcoming talks will mark the first nuclear negotiations between the two sides since February's summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un broke down without an agreement due to differences over Pyongyang's denuclearization measures and Washington's sanctions relief.

Last week, Trump hinted about a fresh meeting with Kim later this year.

Kim and Trump have held three meetings so far. Their second meeting in February in Hanoi ended abruptly that stalled the denuclearization negotiations.

Before that the two leaders met at an informal meeting on the inter-Korean border in June where they agreed to resume the dialogue.

Trump and Kim had their first historic meeting in Singapore last year.

( With inputs from IANS )