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The leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un and envoys from the Republic of Korea (ROK) discussed a possible summit between Kim and ROK President Moon Jae-in, both sides said Tuesday, in the latest step of an Olympics-driven rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula.
A 10-member team from the ROK led by Chung Eui-yong, Moon's top national security adviser, arrived in Pyongyang on Monday for a two-day visit aimed at pushing talks between the two countries forward.
DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (R) met on Monday with the most senior ROK officials to have traveled to Pyongyang in more than a decade.
The delegation from Seoul is the most senior to travel to the DPRK for more than a decade, and comes as Moon tries to broker talks between Pyongyang and Washington, after months of high tensions.
"Hearing the intention of President Moon Jae-in for a summit from the special envoy of the south side, he exchanged views and made a satisfactory agreement," KCNA said of the DPRK leader.
However, Seoul said no agreement had yet been reached on a meeting between Kim and Moon, which would be the first such summit since 2007.
The two sides have "discussed" it and "somewhat shared the view" on other points, an official from the ROK's presidential Blue House said.
KCNA said Kim "warmly welcomed" the ROK officials, who handed over a letter from Moon.
"He also made an exchange of in-depth views on the issues for easing the acute military tensions on the Korean Peninsula and activating the versatile dialogue, contact, cooperation and exchange," it reported.
Kim's discussions with the ROK envoys lasted more than four hours, and included dinner at the DPRK's ruling Workers' Party headquarters in Pyongyang, according to the Blue House.
Details will be made public after the delegation returns late Tuesday, it said.
The tense relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have seen signs of easing in the lead-up to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics after Kim expressed the DPRK’s willingness to join the sports event and said he was open to dialogue with the ROK during his New Year’s speech.
A meeting between the two sides in January, the first in almost two years, saw athletes from the DPRK and ROK marching under a unified flag of the Korean Peninsula in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The Winter Olympics provided "a good atmosphere of reconciliation, unity and dialogue between the north and the south," KCNA quoted Kim as telling the ROK envoys.
Moon has sought to use the PyeongChang Games to open dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang in hopes of easing a nuclear standoff that has heightened fears over global security.
Before leaving for Pyongyang, Chung said: "We plan to hold in-depth discussions for ways to continue not only inter-Korean talks but dialogue between the DPRK and the international community including the United States."
(AFP&CGTN)
