South Korea officials arrive for crunch talks in Pyongyang

A high-level South Korean delegation has arrived in North Korea’s capital for a two-day visit expected to focus on improved relations and how to resolve the stand-off over the North’s nuclear programme.

Yonhap news agency cited North Korean state radio as saying the tenmember South Korean delegation had arrived at Pyongyang’s airport.

The delegation, led by presidential national security director Chung Eui-yong, will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Before leaving for North Korea, Mr Chung said that he will convey the South Korean president’s hopes for North Korean nuclear disarmament and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The meeting would mark the first time South Korean officials have met the young North Korean leader in person since he took power after his dictator father’s death in late 2011. Mr Chung’s trip is the first known high-level visit by South Korean officials to the North in about a decade.

It wasn’t immediately clear what they would discuss or what else is on the itinerary of South Korean envoys’ trip. But hopes are high that the Koreas can extend the good feelings created by North Korea’s participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea last month. Kim’s barrage of weapons tests over the last year has raised fears of war.

If North Korea shows a willingness to disarm during the visit by the South Koreans, there is speculation that it and Washington could set up their own talks on the North’s nuclear weapons. But North Korea has repeatedly said it won’t put its nuclear programme up for negotiation, while the United States has made clear that it doesn’t want empty talks and that all options, including military measures, are on the table. Previous warming ties between the Koreas have come to nothing because of North Korean weapons tests and the North’s claims that annual Us-south Korean war games, which will likely happen this spring, are a rehearsal for an invasion.

After their arrival in Pyongyang, the South Korean envoys met North Korean officials and worked out details of their trip, which included attending a dinner hosted by last night.

North Korean officials had no immediate comment. The country’s state-run media reported that the delegation had arrived but had no further details.

Before leaving for Pyongyang, Mr Chung said he will relay to North Korea hopes for nuclear disarmament and a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.