BEIJING, June 12 -- South Korea's top official for North Korean affairs will meet Pyongyang's second-ranking leader on Thursday, the South Korean government said on Sunday.

South Korean Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo (L) and North Korean head of delegation Kim Man-gil exchange a joint statement at the senior inter-Korean talks in North Korean city of Kaesong May 19, 2005. [Reuters/file]

    The rare meeting between two senior Korean officials in the North Korean capital comes after Pyongyang indicated it might return to stalled six-country talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions.

    Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will lead a 40-member South Korean government delegation to Pyongyang on Tuesday, the start of four days of events there to mark the fifth anniversary of an unprecedented inter-Korea summit.

    
He will meet the North's president of parliament, Kim Yong-nam, in one of a series of planned official meetings, the Unification Ministry said in a statement.

    North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who signed a joint declaration five years ago with then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, pledging to end hostility and seek reconciliation.

South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young (C) waves as Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo (not in picture) leaves for the North Korean city of Kaesong for inter-Korean talks, in Seoul May 16, 2005. [Reuters/file]

    Chung's delegation will join three hundred private citizens and politicians representing the South at the events.

    The two Koreas agreed to hold the anniversary events last month when they resumed dialogue after a 10-month suspension.

    Angered by a secret rescue of 468 North Korean refugees by the South from Vietnam, Pyongyang last July broke off all talks with its neighbor.

    It secured 200,000 tonnes of crucial fertilizer aid from the South at last month's talks.

    (Source: China Daily/Agencies)