A 1.5-track dialogue between incumbent North Korean and former US government officials is reportedly to take place next month amid escalating military tension between their countries, a US broadcaster reported Thursday.

High-ranking officials from the North's foreign ministry, former US state department officials and scholars are said to be meeting in Europe in mid-October, Radio Free Asia said.

The details of the meeting have yet to be fixed, but chances are high Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North American department at North Korea's foreign ministry, will attend it, according to the broadcaster. 

The broadcaster cited a diplomatic source as saying that Pyongyang has been very aggressive in 1.5-track dialogue with the United States of late. A good example of this is the attendance of Choe Kang-il, deputy director general for North American affairs at the North's foreign ministry, in a Northeast Asia security forum in Switzerland earlier this month, the source said. At that time, Japan's NHK reported that Choe Kang-il had unofficial contact with Evans Revere, former US principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, at the forum.

The broadcaster also said the North recently invited leading US news outlets to Pyongyang.

CNN and the Wall Street Journal lately reported in the North, and several other broadcasters and daily papers are now seeking visits to the North for news coverage, the broadcaster added. (Yonhap)