South Korean President and special meeting with Mr. Kim Yong-nam and Mr. Kim Jong-un's sister
South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a historic meeting with North Korea's nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam and his sister Kim Jong-un.
On February 10, South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a private meeting with a group of senior North Korean officials, including the nominal head of state of North Korea and the sister of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un.
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| South Korean President Moon Jae-in (center) happily shakes hands with Kim Yo-jong (left) before starting a rare meeting with senior North Korean officials led by Kim Yong-nam (right). |
This rare and historic meeting began shortly after 11am (Korean time) at the Blue House, followed by a lunch reception hosted by President Moon.
The North Korean officials were initially received by South Korean presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok outside the Blue House. They were later greeted by the South Korean president inside the building, according to the Blue House.
North Korean officials arrived in South Korea on February 9. The 22-member delegation was led by North Korea's nominal head of state, Kim Yong-nam, who is also the chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly.
Earlier, Mr. Moon also briefly met Mr. Kim Yong-nam at a reception for heads of state and global leaders before the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on February 9. He also met Ms. Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on the same day.
When welcoming North Korean officials at the Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae) on February 10, Moon Jae-in asked them, “You must have had a hard time (yesterday) due to the cold weather here.”
According to sources, Ms. Kim Yo-jong responded: “The situation is fine because the President has been very considerate of us.”
The February 10 meeting was also attended by two other high-ranking North Korean representatives: Choe Hwi, chairman of the National Sports Guidance Committee, and Ri Son-gwon, head of North Korea's state agency in charge of inter-Korean affairs.
The South Korean delegation's visit to the South Korean presidential office was the first such visit since August 2009, when a high-level North Korean delegation made a rare visit there to attend the funeral of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who held the first inter-Korean summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.
North and South Korea have held two inter-Korean summits, both in Pyongyang (North Korea). The second summit took place between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2007./.
The North Korean delegation is expected to return to their country on February 11./.
