SEOUL, South Korea — Seoul says North Korea has agreed to hold high-level talks with South Korea next Tuesday.

Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said Friday that North Korea has accepted Seoul’s offer to meet at the border village of Panmunjom that day to discuss how to cooperate on next month’s Winter Olympics and how to improve overall ties.

The announcement came hours after the United States said it has agreed to delay joint military exercises with South Korea until after the Winter Olympics. The Games are to be held in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang.

The rival Koreas are seeking to improve their strained ties after a period of rising tension over the North’s push to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals.