Alwaght- Sister of Kim Jong-un, North Korea's leader, has delivered a personal letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, inviting him to visit Pyongyang at the “earliest date” possible.
In a major diplomatic overture to Seoul, South Korean leader’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, handed the letter over at a rare meeting with Moon on Saturday. She said that brother asked Moon to visit the North’s capital for what will be a third inter-Korean summit.
"While delivering a letter from Kim Jong-un … special envoy Kim Yo-jong orally delivered Chairman Kim Jong-un's invitation [for Moon] to visit the North at a time convenient to him, saying he is willing to meet President Moon Jae-in at the earliest date possible," South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a press briefing.
Moon’s spokesman said the president's response to the invitation was: “Let us make it happen by creating the necessary conditions in the future". The South Korean president mentioned the need for the North to resume its dialogue with the United States.
“An early resumption of dialogue between the United States and the North is needed also for the development of the South-North Korean relationship,” Moon said, according to his spokesman.
Kim Yo-jong arrived at Incheon International Airport on a private jet along with North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, on Friday. The last member of the Kim family to enter South Korea was Kim Il-sung, North Korea’s founder, in 1950.
Later on Saturday, Moon dismissed a call from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to resume massive military exercises between Seoul and the US. “I understand what Prime Minister Abe said is not to delay South Korea-US military drills until there is progress in the denuclearization of North Korea. But the issue is about our sovereignty and intervention in our domestic affairs,” Moon told the Japanese leader, according to a high-ranking official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.
The Winter Olympics, which started in PyeongChang this Friday, appear to have helped bring about a relative thaw in the situation on the peninsula. North and South Korea made a joint entrance under a unified Korean Peninsula flag at the opening ceremony. They have also agreed to send a combined women’s hockey team.
A delegation of US officials led by Vice President Mike Pence also attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang.
Pence, who was seated in the same box, had no interaction with the North Koreans at any point, according to US officials, and the VP did not shake hands with Kim Yong-nam while making a brief appearance at a leaders’ reception ahead of the ceremony.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency had earlier cited a senior Foreign Ministry official as saying that Pyongyang had “no intention” of meeting with Washington’s officials during the Winter Olympic Games.
The two neighbors have been separated by a heavily-militarized border since the end of Korean War.
The situation on the Korean Peninsula has been tense due to Pyongyang’s development of its nuclear and missile programs, which the North views as a deterrent against potential foreign aggression by the South’s allies, particularly the US.
North Korea has been the target of harsh international sanctions for its military program.
The tensions have seen a sharp rise under US President Donald Trump, who initiated a war of words with the North Korean leader after taking office in January 2017.
