国际英语新闻：U.N. Command, DPRK to hold colonel-level talks Friday

SEOUL, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will hold a third round of colonel-level talks Friday at the truce village of Panmunjom, the UNC said Thursday.

"Representatives of the Korean People's Army and the UNC Military Armistice Commission will hold a colonel-level meeting in Panmunjom tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.," the UNC said in a statement.

The talks were tentatively scheduled to take place on Thursday as a continuation of the last meeting held on July 23, but were postponed after the two sides failed to confirm the date.

The two sides first met on July 15 to discuss the March sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on Pyongyang. The DPRK denies its involvement.

At the last meeting on July 23, the UNC proposed a joint group to assess any armistice violations in the warship's sinking, and the two sides exchanged ideas and further details for convening the joint group, according to a UNC press release.