DPRK, US expected to resume working-level nuke talks in 2 to 3 weeks: ROK

SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States are expected to resume working-level nuclear talks in two to three weeks, Yonhap news agency and Newsis news agency reported Tuesday, citing the country's intelligence agency.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief told a parliamentary intelligence committee that the DPRK-US working-level denuclearization negotiations were forecast to resume within two to three weeks.

It could be for preparations for the third summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, the NIS was quoted as saying.

The second summit between Kim and Trump was held in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in late February, ending without any agreement.

Kim and Trump held an impromptu meeting in late June at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom, agreeing to restart the working-level dialogue for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Pyongyang recently expressed its willingness to resume working-level talks with Washington, which already said it was ready to engage in denuclearization talks.

The NIS opened a possibility for the DPRK leader to attend the special summit between The Republic of Korea (ROK) and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) depending on the outcome of the DPRK-US working-level talks.

The special summit is slated to be held for two days from Nov 25 in ROK's southern port city of Busan.