Two Koreas to hold high-level talks as N. Korea deadline looms: Seoul

 Two Koreas to hold high-level talks as N. Korea deadline looms: Seoul

An Anti-North Korean protester holds up a banner at a checkpoint on the Unification Bridge leading to the Kaesong Industrial complex and North Korea near Paju in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on August 22, 2015.

SEOUL, Aug 22, 2015 (AFP) - South and North Korea agreed to hold top-level talks Saturday as a North Korean deadline loomed for Seoul to halt loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border or face military action.

Four high-ranking officials will meet at the border truce village of Panmunjon at 6:00pm (0900 GMT), a spokeswoman for the presidential Blue House in Seoul told AFP.

The agreement over the dialogue came just hours before the North's ultimatum on the cross-border broadcasts expires at 5:00pm Pyongyang time (0830 GMT).

The South side will be represented by Unification Minister Hong Young-Pyo and the head of the National Security Office Kim Kwan-Jin.

The North will send its military's top political official, Hwang Pyong-So, who is widely seen as leader Kim Jong-Un's number two, and Worker's Party Secretary Kim Yong-Gon, who is in charge of relations with the South.

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