MAKING NICE

Kim Jong Un Hosts South Korean Officials for Dinner in Pyongyang

The two rival sides had dinner “in a warm atmosphere overflowing with compatriotic feelings,” according to the North.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un hosted top South Korean officials in Pyongyang for dinner on Monday, the first such high-level meeting between the two sides in years. South Korea’s intelligence chief, Suh Hoon, and the president’s top national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, were among those to attend the nearly four-hour long dinner with Kim, which resulted in a tentative agreement to hold a summit between the two Koreas’ leaders. The North said the meeting “proceeded in a warm atmosphere overflowing with compatriotic feelings,” while a spokesman for South Korea’s presidential office gave the North Koreans credit for having “worked hard to prepare for this visit.” The meeting is widely seen as a further sign of thawing tensions after North Korea’s delegation to the Winter Olympics signaled a desire for dialogue.