NEWSCENTER 22:00 N.Korea accepts Seoul′s proposal for working-level talks

NEWSCENTER 22:00 Two Koreas agree to hold border talks next week. It′s a follow up on an earlier agreement... Will this lead to higher-level talks? ANOTHER ATTACK. Gunmen hold 170 hostage at a hotel in Mali... at least 3 people are killed... as Parisians grasp for normalcy following a week as hunt for terror suspects continues. President Park Geun-hye is in the Malaysian capital... to attend the ASEAN regional summit. Another key focus would be whether the South Korean leader and the UN chief would discuss Ban′s future visit to Pyongyang. We want to welcome our viewers in Korea and all around the world. This is Newscenter... I′m Moon Connyoung. Title: N.Korea accepts Seoul′s proposal for working-level talks The two Koreas will hold their first talks since they defused an armed standoff in August with a deal to work on improving fraught ties. A meeting between mid-tier officials from each side will be held at the inter-Korean border next Thursda... with an aim at setting up a meeting of higher level delegates down the road. Arirang′s unification correspondent Song Ji-sun joins us from the ministry in Seoul. Ji-sun, it′s been two months Seoul has been knocking Pyongyang′s door with offers for talks why has it taken Pyongyang so long to respond to Seoul′s proposals? "Conn-young, it seems like North Korea was just waiting for the right timing... and will most likely try to get what it wants during the talks. The chances of following up with high-level talks is highly probable... as Pyongyang has specified the date and venue for this preliminary meeting." "North Korea has proposed holding working-level talks on November 26th in Panmunjom. We accepted the invitation, and we will be discussing details for holding governmental talks." Seoul has proposed working-level talks THREE times since September... before AND after the reunions for war-separated families that were held at the North′s Mount Kumgang resort last month... but Pyongyang remained silent, often blaming the South for the lack of dialogue. As for Seoul, setting up a permanent channel of exchanges for the war-separated families and holding regular reunions are the top priorities... although Pyongyang is likely to demand preconditions. "North Korea has been compliant in its agreement reached with the South, holding family reunions last month and increased civil exchanges. However, Pyongyang is likely to have demands, in particular, the resumption of tours at Mount Kumkang." The tours were discontinued after a South Korean tourist was shot by a North Korean soldier in 2008... and Seoul also imposed sanctions on Pyongyang after the South′s Cheonan warship was torpedoed in 2010. Experts also suggest that the North′s leader Kim Jong-un will try to achieve progress in inter-Korean relations in order to boost the stability of his regime... ahead of a major gathering of its ruling Workers′ Party set for May 2016. "The latest