S. Korean president hosts lunch for Kim Jong Un’s sister

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Saturday met with senior North Korean officials including leader Kim Jong Un’s sister over lunch at Seoul’s presidential palace in the most significant diplomatic encounter between the rivals in year s.

The luncheon at the Blue House came after Kim Yo Jong and other North Korean delegates attended the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, which has brought a temporary lull in tensions over the North’s nuclear progr am .

At the Olympic Stadium’s VIP box, Kim Yo Jong and North Korea’s nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, took their place among dignitaries from around the world, including US Vice President Mike Pence who sat just a few feet (less than a meter) away and seemed to make an effort not to acknowledge them.

South Korean television showed a smiling Moon entering a reception room and shaking hands with the North Koreans, who also included Choe Hwi, chairman of the country’s National Sports Guidance Committee, and Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North’s agency that deals with inter-Korean affairs. Moon was joined by his national security director Chung Eui-yong, chief of staff Im Jong-seok, National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon and Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon.

Moon is desperate to use the games as an opportunity to restore regular communication with North Korea and eventually pull it into talks over resolving the international standoff over its nuclear program.

It’s still unclear whether Saturday’s event could be used to set up bigger meetings between the Koreas. Lawmakers from Moon’s liberal ruling party have talked about the possibility of South Korea sending a special envoy to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong Un. There’s even speculation of a summit between Kim and Moon.

Moon has already put a summit offer on the table. The first liberal president in a decade, Moon during his inauguration speech last year that he would be willing to visit Pyongyang and meet with Kim Jong Un if that helps solve the nuclear problem.

The North and South held summits in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007, both hosted by late Kim Jong Il, the father of Kim Jong Un.

Kim Yo Jong, 30, is the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Analysts say the North’s decision to send her to the Olympics shows eagerness to break out from diplomatic isolation by improving relations with the South, which it could use as a bridge for approaching the United States.