Kim Jong-un hosts historic meeting with South Korean delegation

Kim Jong-un is hosting a South Korean delegation in a dramatic change of policy.

The North Korean leader is expected to meet the delegation from neighbouring South Korea on Monday.

A high-level South Korean delegation arrived in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, for a two-day visit expected to focus on improved relations and how to resolve the stand-off over the North’s nuclear programme.

Yonhap news agency cited North Korean state radio as saying the 10-member South Korean delegation had arrived at Pyongyang’s airport.

Kim Jong-un is reportedly hosting a dinner with the South Korean envoys.

The South Korean delegation, led by presidential national security director Chung Eui-yong, are to meet with Kim Jong-un.

Before leaving for North Korea, Mr Chung told reporters that he will convey the South Korean president’s hopes for North Korean nuclear disarmament and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

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The meeting marks a sizeable shift in North Korea’s stance.

It is understood the meeting will be the first time Kim Jong-un has spoken face-to-face with officials from South Korea since he came to power in 2011.

A cooling in relations between the two nations took place at last month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, as the North sent a delegation to the opening ceremony and the two countries formed a combined women’s ice hockey team.

Last year, things were less amicable, as the North and the South engaged in a fraught war of words over nuclear arms and missile testing.