The announcement from South Korea’s foreign ministry comes after Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his country faces the greatest danger since World War Two because of North Korea’s “unacceptable” provocations.
The envoys are set to meet on Monday before high-ranking officials of the two Koreas sit down on Tuesday in the truce village of Panmunjom to discuss the North’s participation in the PyeongChang Olympic Games in February.
The rare move comes after Kim Jong-un announced North Korea was open to talks with its southern rival despite issuing a threat to the US in his New Year’s speech.
The South’s foreign ministry in a statement said: ”Both sides will share views on situations on the Korean Peninsula since the North’s New Year’s message and will have in-depth discussions on strengthening diplomatic efforts to advance inter-Korean relations and peacefully resolve the North Korea nuclear problem.”
Experts have warned that Kim Jong-un’s “olive branch” to South Korea could be a plot to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington.
Douglas Paal, a former senior US diplomat, said: “This speech pokes at the fissure that has lain below the surface in US-South Korean relations, and seems designed to drive a wedge there.
“President Moon needs a successful Olympics and the US drive to increase pressure fits poorly with the Southern agenda.”
Evans Revere, another former senior US diplomat who took part in unofficial talks with North Korean officials last year, said Pyongyang would likely try to extract concessions as a “price” for Olympics participation.
However, he added: “It’s hard to imagine Seoul falling for this.”
Mr Revere also warned Kim’s speech contained the strongest defence yet of North Korea’s status as a permanently nuclear-armed country.
He added: ”Implicit in Kim Jong-un’s speech is a willingness to engage with others, including the United States, on the basis of their acceptance of the ‘reality’ of North Korea’s permanent nuclear status. That’s not a basis on which the United States is prepared to engage.”
South Korea and the US have so far remained allied in their pressure and isolation campaign of North Korea despite repeated calls from Kim Jong-un for Seoul to sever its with Washington in a bid for “peace”.
However, responding to Kim Jong-un’s offer a spokesman for the South Korean presidency said: “We have always stated our willingness to talk with North Korea anytime and anywhere if that would help restore inter-Korean relations and lead to peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
Meanwhile, Mr Abe during a New Year’s conference warned: “It is not an exaggeration to say that the security environment surrounding Japan is at its severest since World War Two.
“I will protect the people’s lives and peaceful living in any situation.”
Abe’s government approved a record military budget last month, with defence outlays due to rise for a sixth year, increasing by 1.3 percent to £34billion ( 5.19 trillion yen), with the biggest item 137 billion yen in reinforcing defences against North Korean ballistic missiles.
In his New Year’s speech Kim Jong-un said: ”When it comes to North-South relations, we should lower the military tensions on the Korean Peninsula to create a peaceful environment. Both the North and the South should make efforts.
“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the North Korean regime’s establishment, and the South will host the Winter Games. This year holds significance for the two Koreas.”
The dictator also declared that North Korea had reached full nuclear force in 2017 as issued a chilling warning to the US.
He said: “We achieved the goal of completing our state nuclear force in 2017.
“The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat.”
When asked to comment on Kim’s speech, Donald Trump said: “We’ll see, we’ll see,” as he walked into a New Year’s Eve celebration at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.