North Korea invitation part of Olympic thaw

South Koreans enjoy sudden improvement in relations, but remain wary

PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA» A rare invitation to Pyongyang for South Korea’s president marked the second day of the North Korean Kim dynasty’s southern road tour Saturday, part of an accelerating diplomatic thaw that included some Korean liquor over lunch and the shared joy of watching a “unified” Korea team play women’s hockey at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Nothing has been settled on any trip north by South Korean President Moon Jae-in. But the verbal message to come at a “convenient time” from dictator Kim Jong Un, delivered by his visiting younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, is part of a sudden rush of improving feelings between the rivals during the Pyeongchang Olympics. The result: a heady, sometimes surreal, state of affairs in a South Korea that has seen far more threat than charm out of the North.

Still, it wouldn’t be South Korea if people weren’t asking the perennial question when it comes to North Korea changing gears and showering its rival with apparent affection: What’s in it for Pyongyang?

Past “charm offensives” have been interpreted as North Korea trying to recoup from crippling sanctions on its nuclear program, or trying to drive a wedge between Seoul and its U.S. ally.

Even so, there’s also cautious optimism, or curiosity at least. A summit in Pyongyang between Moon and Kim Jong Un seems preferable to threats in recent months.

Moon told Kim Yo Jong that the North and South should continue to build conditions for a summit, Moon spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said. The U.S. and the North should quickly resume dialogue, he said.

The lunch Saturday at Seoul’s presidential mansion involving Moon and Kim Yo Jong was the most significant diplomatic encounter between the archrivals in years. The night before, Kim and other North Korean delegates attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, watching a

“unified” Korean team march under a banner showing an undivided Korean Peninsula.

In a surreal mixture of dignitaries, the Olympic Stadium’s VIP box included Kim Yo Jong and North Korea’s nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, sitting above and behind U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and fellow hard-liner Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister. Pence and the Kims seemed to go out of their way not to acknowledge each other.

That was not the case with Moon — either at the Games, when he enthusiastically reached up to shake Kim Yo Jong’s hand, or at the lunch the next day. South Korean television showed its smiling president entering a reception room Saturday and shaking hands with the North Koreans.

At the luncheon, Moon proposed a toast, calling for peace and “mutual prosperity” for the two Koreas.