2 Koreas agree to hold vice minister-level talks on Dec. 11

South and North Korea have agreed to hold vice minister-level talks on December 11 to discuss pending bilateral issues to improve ties between the two arch rivals.

Seoul's Unification Ministry said the agreement was reached when Kim Ki-Woong, Assistant Minister of the ministry's Special Office for Inter-Korean Dialogue, held a working-level meeting with his North Korean counterpart Hwang Chol, at the inter-Korean border truce village of Panmunjom on Thursday.

The two sides also agreed that the vice ministerial talks will be held at the joint inter-Korean industrial complex at North Korea's border city of Kaesong.

The working-level meeting came after the two Koreas struck a comprehensive deal on August 25 to resolve weeks of tense military confrontations over a land-mine blast at the inter-Korean border in early August. The South blamed the North for the incident that maimed two South Korean soldiers.

If the vice ministerial talks materialize, the two sides are expected to discuss a variety of pending issues including regular reunions of Korean War-torn families and the lifting of the South's economic sanctions against the impoverished North.

Also on the main agenda of the inter-Korean talks will be whether to resume the long-stalled tours by South Koreans to Mount Kumgang, a scenic resort area in North Korea's east coast.