MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia invited South Korea's Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo and North Korea's Foreign Trade Minister Ri Ryong Nam to discuss a trilateral railway project at the first East Russia Economic Forum, to be held September 3-5 in the city of Vladivostok.
"We are open, we are ready to actively approach the issue, to discuss trilateral cooperation. There is another question, whether the representatives of the DPRK will participate in this forum," the source told RIA Novosti.
The possibility of the meeting is hampered by recent tensions that have strained the Korean peninsula in the past week.
On Thursday, North Korea fired shells at a South Korean military base across the demilitarized zone in an attempt to stop loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts. Seoul responded with dozens of heavy artillery rounds.