This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6936158.stm

The article has changed 13 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Koreas 'to hold historic summit' Koreas announce historic summit
(about 3 hours later)
North and South Korea are to hold only their second-ever summit, officials have announced. Leaders from North and South Korea are to hold a summit, only the second ever between the two sides, officials have announced.
President Roh Moo-hyun will visit the North Korean capital Pyongyang for a meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong-il between 28-30 August. President Roh Moo-hyun will meet North Korea's Kim Jong-il in the North's capital, Pyongyang, from 28-30 August.
The summit comes seven years after the first one, when Mr Kim met then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.The summit comes seven years after the first one, when Mr Kim met then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.
Correspondents say the meeting will be a boost to Mr Roh, who is approaching the end of his presidential term. That meeting ushered in improved ties and reconciliation between the two sides, who remain technically at war.
The BBC's Dan Griffiths, in the South Korean capital Seoul, said Mr Roh will be hoping to secure his legacy after a largely unpopular five years in office. This summit comes amid a gradual improvement in North Korea's ties with the outside world.
Last month, the communist nation shut down its main Yongbyon reactor as part of an international aid-for-disarmament deal aimed at ending its nuclear programme.
'Weighty significance''Weighty significance'
The summit has been arranged despite the two nations being technically still at war - neither signed an official ceasefire at the end of the Korean War in 1953. The meeting... will be of weighty significance in opening a new phase of peace on the Korean Peninsula North Korean news agency KCNA
The south's presidential security adviser, Baek Jong-chun, said the meeting was finally agreed after senior intelligence officials had made two trips to the north. The meeting was finally agreed after senior South Korean intelligence personnel made two trips to the North, officials said.
South Korea's presidential office said in a statement: "The second inter-Korean summit will contribute to substantially opening the era of peace and prosperity between the two Koreas." South Korea's presidential office said that the summit would "contribute to substantially opening the era of peace and prosperity between the two Koreas".
Meanwhile, the north's Korean Central News Agency released a statement confirming that an agreement had been signed on Sunday. North Korean state news agency KCNA, meanwhile, said it would be "of weighty significance in opening a new phase of peace on the Korean Peninsula".
"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," the statement said. The two sides will formalise an agenda for the summit at preparatory meetings in the border city of Kaesong, where the two Koreas jointly run an industrial park.
But the two leaders could "expand military confidence-building measures and prepare the stepping stones to establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula", said Mr Roh's security advisor, Baek Jong-chun.
The two Koreas have not signed a formal peace agreement since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The United States welcomed the announcement.
"We have long welcomed and supported North-South dialogue and hope that this meeting will help promote peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," State Department spokesperson Joanne Moore said.
December polls
After the landmark summit in 2000, ties between the two Koreas warmed. Joint economic projects began and reunion meetings for families divided by the partitioning of the Korean Peninsula in 1953 were initiated.
Kim Dae-jung won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to engage with Pyongyang, but he was forced to apologise when it emerged that large amounts of cash were sent to North Korea ahead of the talks.
Correspondents say the upcoming meeting will be a boost to the increasingly unpopular South Korean president, who is approaching the end of his term.
Presidential elections are due in December and the opposition Grand National Party - which advocates a tougher line towards North Korea - is leading in the polls.