North and South Korea will hold a summit on April 27, Seoul officials said after the two sides met for talks in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula.
The meeting between Kim Jong Un, leader of nuclear-armed North Korea, and the South's President Moon Jae-in will be only the third of its kind, and will also take place in the DMZ.
It comes amid a global diplomatic push to resolve the standoff over the North's nuclear program.
The announcement follows a surprise meeting this week between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which appeared to be aimed at improving both countries' positions ahead of Kim's planned meetings with Moon and US President Donald Trump.
In setting up separate talks with Beijing, Seoul, Washington, and potentially with Moscow and Tokyo, North Korea may be moving to disrupt any united front among its negotiating counterparts.
By reintroducing China, which is the North's only major ally, as a major player, North Korea also gains leverage against South Korea and the United States, analysts say.
The leaders of the two Koreas have held talks only twice since the 1950-53 Korean War, in 2000 and 2007, under previous liberal governments in Seoul.
It is unclear whether the leaders' meetings between Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington, could lead to any meaningful breakthrough.
