The Defense Ministry has begun preparations for inter-Korean defense ministers' talks scheduled for next month.

A ministry official says a special task force will be formed next week to discuss the agenda and schedule of the talks. It will comprise experts from the Defense Ministry Joint Chiefs of Staff and Korea Institute for Defense Analysis.

President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed to hold South-North defense ministers' talks at their summit on Wednesday.

The highest-level military talks, the details of which have yet to be discussed, will take place in Pyongyang in November. It will be the second such meeting between the two sides following one in 2000.

Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry said it sent a top military official to Commander of the U.S. Eighth Army Lieutenant General David Valcourt and explained the results of this week's inter-Korean summit talks.