North Korea’s chief delegate said Tuesday he came to the inter-Korean talks with the idea of offering a “precious result” to South Korea, hinting that Pyongyang will respond positively to Seoul’s invitation to the Winter Games.

The cross-border meeting which took place in the border village of Panmunjeom, kicked-off at 10 a.m. sharp with the two chief delegates of Seoul and Pyongyang exchanging warm messages hinting at a thaw in long-stalled ties.

“I came to this meeting with a thought to hand a ‘precious result’ to our fellow, who holds a great expectation,” Ri Son-gwon, the chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, said at the start of the meeting. CPRC is North Korea’s state agency handling inter-Korean affairs. 

Ri also said the rare meeting was arranged upon “the divine will,” on the back of “the hearts of the Korean people” combined with the “current situation.”

In response to Ri’s remarks, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said that South Korean citizens want to reel Inter-Korean relations toward reconciliation and peace.

Cho, who heads the South Korean delegation also underlined Seoul’s wish for North Korea’s participation at the PyeongChang Olympics and Paralympics next month.

Cho noted that the meeting came amid a long freeze in the relationship between the two Koreas and expressed hopes to continue and carry-on the talks. He was seated across from Ri during the meeting. 

Both delegations from the South and the North are formed of five government officials overseeing inter-Korean relations and the organization of key sporting events.

The meeting came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a rare overture toward South Korea in his New Year’s address. Kim said he was willing to dispatch a delegation to the Winter Games and said both sides could “urgently meet” to discuss the matter.

The main issue of the talks is likely to be the Winter Games, but Seoul said it will also raise the issue of alleviating tensions on the Korean Peninsula and a reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea has remained mum toward Seoul’s offer of holding military talks and a separate Red Cross meeting to discuss the reunion of divided families.

Tuesday‘s talks came on the heels of North Korea’s test-firing of intercontinental ballistic missiles and its sixth and largest nuclear test last year.

South Korea’s liberal Moon administration has been hoping that a revival of dialogue with the North will help de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and eventually lead to denuclearization.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)