Pyongyang makes ‘agreement’ with Seoul after historic meet

PYONGYANG, Mar 06 (Agencies): North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said he wants to 'vigorously advance' closer ties with South Korea.

Kim Jong Un met senior South Korean government officials for the first time and said it is his 'firm will to vigorously advance' inter-Korean ties and pursue reunification, the state media said on Tuesday.

A 10-member South Korean delegation led by National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong traveled to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, on Monday in hopes of encouraging North Korea and the United States to talk to one another.

Washington and Pyongyang have been at loggerheads for months over the North's nuclear and missile programs, with US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un trading insults and threatening war.

Tensions between the two Koreas eased during the recent Winter Olympics in South Korea, where President Moon Jae-In hosted a high-level North Korean delegation. Kim Jong Un invited Moon to North Korea for a summit, which Moon said the two sides should work towards.

"Hearing the intention of President Moon Jae In for a summit from the special envoy of the south side, (Kim Jong Un) exchanged views and made a satisfactory agreement," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said of the meeting.

The agency did not provide details on what that agreement was but an official from the presidential Blue House in Seoul said it partially addressed the summit offer made by the North.

North Korea has been developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of reaching the United States but Pyongyang and Washington both say they want a diplomatic solution.

Seoul's delegation met Kim Jong Un, his sister Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's wife and other officials on Monday, said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the South's presidential office. Kim Yo Jong attended the Winter Olympics opening ceremony last month.

The delegation will wrap up a two-day trip to Pyongyang later on Tuesday after another meeting with North Korean officials, the spokesman said.

Blue House officials could not confirm whether Kim Jong Un would be present at Tuesday's meeting.

Chung said in Seoul before leaving on Monday his team would deliver the South Korean president's wish to bring about denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and permanent peace.