The government will propose that the two Koreas hold a preliminary meeting at the truce village of Panmunjeom in mid-February to make preparations for high-level inter-Korean defense talks.

An official from the Defense Ministry said Monday that Seoul will soon make the proposal to Pyongyang and that the South Korean delegation to the preliminary meeting will be led by a colonel-level official.

If it is held, the preliminary meeting will mark the first contact between the two Koreas' defense officials since an inter-Korean working-level meeting was held at Panmunjeom on September 30th of last year.