The two Koreas will meet next week to discuss ways to curb the recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease near Pyongyang, following the North's request for aid last week.

The working-level meeting of veterinary quarantine officials will open a week from Friday in the North Korean border city of Gaesong.

South Korean Vice Unification Minister Sin Eonsang told a briefing Thursday that the government had pledged 400 million won worth of medicine and equipment aid. He said that Seoul had also proposed additional talks, to which Pyongyang responded by suggesting the March 30th date.

The North said it will send four officials to the talks including the head of its national emergency quarantine committee.

Meanwhile, Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung is scheduled to chair this Thursday a meeting of the government's consultative body on inter-Korean exchanges. He is expected to finalize a three-point-three billion won aid package from the inter-Korean cooperation fund to help fight the recent outbreak affecting North Korean pigs and cattle.