N Korean diplomats to attend S Korean forum in Kazakhstan

North Korea has agreed to send two of its diplomats to an international forum hosted by South Korea's unification ministry in Kazakhstan this week.

This comes after the two Koreas held a historic summit at the Panmunjom border village in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) on April 27, leading to a further thaw in inter-Korean relations.

According to the South Korean unification ministry official, two councilor-level North Korean diplomats stationed in Russia will attend the forum scheduled to be held on April 18 in Almaty, Yonhap news agency reported.

This would be the first time that diplomats from North Korea will participate in an event sponsored by the South Korean unification ministry.

The forum will be held under the theme of - "The peace and future for the Korean Peninsula."

In a reconciliatory move, North Korea has invited eight South Korean journalists to cover an event showcasing the dismantling of the Punggye-ri site scheduled, according to the South Korean unification ministry.

A ceremony for the dismantling of the site reportedly has been scheduled between May 23-25.

Pyongyang also confirmed that international journalists, including the ones from the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), would be invited to carry out "on-the-spot coverage in order to show in a transparent manner" how the use of the nuclear site is being discontinued.

On April 20, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that his nation already had "completed its mission" to test its weapons capability and added that it had no further need for the site.