Kim Jong-un meets with South Korean officials for the first time in his seven-year reign

KIM Jong-un has met with officials from South Korea, the first meeting between the North Korean leader and representatives from the south in the seven years of his leadership.

Kim Jong-un has reportedly met with South Korean officials for the first time in the seven years of his leadership. Picture: AFP/KCNA via KNS

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong-un has hosted a welcome dinner for a delegation from South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported citing the South Korean presidency, in another sign of thawing ties on the peninsula.

The South Korean envoys, led by President Moon Jae-in’s top security adviser Chung Eui Yong, have been sent to Pyongyang to lay the groundwork for potential peace talks between the neighbours.

The South Korean delegation heading to Pyongyang for talks with Kim Jong-un. Picture: AFP/Jung Yeon-je

The visit was also aimed at encouraging Pyongyang and Washington to talk. Both North Korea and the US have expressed a willingness to talk but the long-held American position is that the North first give up its nuclear weapons program.

Some frankly remarkable pics via @TheBlueHouseKR of the South Korean delegation's first meeting in Pyongyang pic.twitter.com/vgERMYPRAw

— Oliver Hotham (@OliverHotham) March 5, 2018

The 10-member South Korean delegation, led by National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong, was greeted by North Korean officials after landing in Pyongyang on Monday, said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for South Korea’s presidential office.

“Chairman Kim Jong-un is currently hosting a dinner for the special envoys,” Yonhap quoted a spokesman for the presidential residence in Seoul, Kim Eui Kyeom, as saying.

The South Korean and North Korean delegations meet in Pyongyang. Picture: AFP/The Blue House

The South Korean officials are the most senior officials from the South to meet Kim Jong Un since he took power in late 2011 following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.

“We will deliver President Moon Jae-in’s wish to bring about denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and permanent peace by extending the goodwill and better inter-Korean relations created by the PyeongChang Winter Olympics,” Chung said in South Korea before the delegation’s departure.

The meeting marks Kim’s first with a South Korean delegation since he came into power seven years ago. Picture: AFP/KCNA via KNS

The visit is a response to that of Kim Yo-jong, Kim’s sister, to South Korea in February during the Winter Olympics.

Kim Yo-jong, the head of propaganda for the North Korean regime, attended the PyeongChang Games at Moon’s invitation, and conveyed an invitation from her brother to the president to visit Pyongyang.

Shouldn’t downplay the significance of this meeting given that KJU doesn’t often avail himself to foreign dignitaries. https://t.co/4hrlieKcPU

— J. James Kim (@jjkim091) March 5, 2018

Moon, however, has reacted cautiously. He has to make sure he’s in step with his US ally, which has launched a campaign of “maximum pressure” on the North in an attempt to force it to give up its nuclear weapons.

The 10-person delegation, which also includes South Korean spy chief Suh Hoon, is to remain in Pyongyang until Tuesday.

Before departing for Pyongyang, delegation leader Chung said he would convey the president’s determination to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula and achieve a lasting peace.

Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office, and Suh Hoon (left), chief of the South’s National Intelligence Service. Picture: AFP/Jung Yeon-je

The government hopes the visit will create “a positive atmosphere”, Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular briefing.

Chung and Suh are due to fly to Washington later in the week to brief US officials on their discussions in the North.

Thawing relations between the Korean neighbours have prompted speculation about direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang after months of tension and exchanges of bellicose insults between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un fuelled fears of war.