The American-led United Nations Command (UNC) and North Korea will hold their second round of colonel-level talks Friday over the sinking of a South Korean warship, the command said.
Representatives of the North's military and the UNC Military Armistice Commission "agreed to conduct colonel-level meetings on July 23, at 10:00
a.m." at the border village of Panmunjom, the UNC said Thursday in a brief statement.
The meeting is largely a preparation for general-level talks to discuss the sinking, which a Seoul-led multinational investigation concluded was the result of a North Korean torpedo attack. Pyongyang denies its responsibility for the attack that killed 46 sailors.
The two sides held the first colonel-level meeting last week and agreed to hold more talks.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced new sanctions targeting the North's leadership, toughening its stance against
the communist regime over the sinking.
Clinton and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates held unprecedented "two plus two" talks in Seoul with South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan
and Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, warning North Korea it will face "serious consequences" if it provokes again.
South Korea and the U.S. are scheduled to launch large-scale naval drills from Sunday in the East Sea, meant as a strong display of military force and deterrence against the North.