Pyeongchang, South Korea (CNN)The South Korean President has been invited to travel to North Korea, following a formal invitation from the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, potentially setting up the first meeting of Korean leaders since 2007.
The invite, presented to South Korean President Moon Jae-in by Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, was delivered during a historic meeting between North and South Korean officials at Seoul's presidential palace Saturday, presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said.
Saturday's meeting, the most significant diplomatic encounter between the two sides in more than a decade, could now be surpassed should Moon accept Kim's invitation to visit Pyongyang later this year.
Moon responded to the invitation by suggesting the two countries "should accomplish this by creating the right conditions," adding that talks between North Korea and the United States were also needed, and requested that North Korea be more active in talking with the US, according to Kim Eui-kyeom.
Images from the lunch meeting at the Blue House, which was broadcast live on South Korean TV, showed Moon sat in front of Kim Yo Jong, rather than Kim Yong Nam, technically the more senior official present in the meeting and head of the North Korean delegation.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, shakes hands with Ri Son Gwon, North Korea's chief negotiator, as Kim Yo Jong, right, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's nominal head of state, stand during a meeting Saturday at the presidential palace.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, shakes hands with Ri Son Gwon, North Korea's chief negotiator, as Kim Yo Jong, right, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's nominal head of state, stand during a meeting Saturday at the presidential palace.
The younger Kim's trip to the South marks the first time that a member of the North's ruling dynasty has visited since the Korean War, which ended in an armistice in 1953.
Analysts noted that Kim Yo Jong was shown holding a blue folder adorned with a gold seal, which she later placed in front of her on the table, leading to speculation in South Korean media that it could contain a personal letter from her brother to the South Korean President.
Such a high-level meeting would have been unthinkable even a few months ago, but 2018 has seen an accelerated rapprochement between the two adversaries in the run-up to the Games.
Moon has expressed his intention to use the Winter Olympics as a chance to make diplomatic inroads with the North and restore normalized communications, following months of high tensions on the Peninsula.
Speaking last year at his swearing-in ceremony, Moon said he would be willing to travel to Pyongyang "under the right conditions," adding that "for peace on the Korean Peninsula, I will do everything that I can do."
Other members of the North Korean delegation present at Saturday's meeting included Ri Son Gwon, who led the first sit-down talks at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) earlier this year, and Choe Hwi. South Korean participants included senior officials Jeong Eui-yong, Jo Myong-gyoon and Im Jong-suk, the chief presidential secretary.
Kim Yo Jong also was due to attend the unified Korean hockey team's first Olympics match, a spokesperson for South Korea's presidential office told CNN. Moon and Kim Yong Nam were due to be in the stands as well, a Blue House spokesperson told CNN. The team plays Switzerland on Saturday.
The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong, center, shakes hands Friday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in during the Opening Ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
