North Korea open to talks with United States, South Korea says

ByHAKYUNG KATE LEE ABCNews logo

Sunday, February 25, 2018

North Korea open to talks with United States, South Korea says. Nydia Han reports during Action News at Noon on February 25, 2018.

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea -- South Korea's presidential office said today that North Korea's delegation to the Olympics agreed that there should be talks between the United States and North Korea.

Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesperson for the Blue House, the presidential office, said that just like South Korea, the delegation from Pyongyang believed that U.S.-North Korean relations should improve.

The announcement followed talks today between South Korea's president and members of North Korea's delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony.

The South said the talks lasted an hour and concluded just a couple hours before the Olympics closing ceremony started in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The North Korean delegation included Kim Yong Chol, the vice chairman of the North Korean ruling party's central committee, and Ri Son Kwon, the chairman of North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, according to the Blue House.

South Korea's president, Moon Jae-in, was joined by the Blue House national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, and the director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, Suh Hoon, the president's office said.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he hoped relations between North Korea and South Korea would improve, and the North Korean delegation said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un felt the same way, according to the spokesperson.

The Blue House made the announcement as the closing ceremony was getting underway. The American and North Korean delegations sat seats away from each other during the ceremony but did not appear to interact.

ABC News asked the U.S. delegation for comment and did not immediately hear back.