North Korea offered to send athletes and a government delegation to the forthcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea on Tuesday, according to Seoul, as the rivals held their first official talks in more than two years after months of tensions in the peninsula.
Seoul urged that reunions of families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War — one of the most emotive legacies of the conflict — be held at the same time as the Games.
The talks were held in Panmunjom, the truce village in the Demilitarised Zone (or DMZ) that splits the peninsula, with the North's group walking over the Military Demarcation Line to the Peace House venue on the southern side — just yards from where a defector ran across in a hail of bullets two months ago.
The South's unification minister Cho Myoung-gyon and the North's chief delegate Ri Son-gwon shook hands at the entrance to the building, and again across the table.
As well as its athletes, the North proposed sending a high-level delegation, supporters, art performers and a taekwondo demonstration team to the Games, the South's vice unification minster Chun Hae-sung said.
Temporary lifting of sanctions
Seoul also said it will consider a temporary lifting of sanctions against Pyongyang if it is necessary to facilitate the visit of North Koreans to the Games next month.
South Korea has unilaterally banned several North Korean officials from entering the country in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.
If Seoul needs to take "prior steps" to help the North Koreans visit for the Olympics, it will consider it together with the United Nations Security Council and other relevant countries, foreign ministry spokesman Roh Kyu-deok said.
Inter-Korean military talks
Seoul suggested the two sides march together at the opening ceremony, Hae-sung added, and called for the resumption of family reunions, as well as Red Cross talks and military discussions to prevent "accidental clashes".
"We proposed holding inter-Korean military talks designed to reduce animosities in frontline areas," he said.
"Let's present the people with a precious new year's gift," said the North's Ri. "There is a saying that a journey taken by two lasts longer than the one travelled alone."
The atmosphere was friendlier than at past meetings, and Cho told him that Seoul believed "guests from the North are going to join many others from all around the world" at the Olympics.
"The people have a strong desire to see the North and South move toward peace and reconciliation," he added.
A different tone
It was a radically different tone from the rhetoric of recent months, which have seen the North's leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump trade personal insults and threats of war, while Pyongyang has launched missiles capable of reaching the US mainland and carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date.
Seoul has been keen to proclaim the Games in Pyeongchang, just 80 km south of the DMZ, a "peace Olympics" but it needs Pyongyang to attend to make the description meaningful.
Kim indicated in his New Year's speech that the North could take part in the Games and Seoul responded with an offer of high-level dialogue.
Last week the hotline between the neighbours was restored after being suspended for almost two years.
Seoul-Washington military drills
It was not clear whether the North had sought to discuss a permanent end to large-scale annual military drills between Seoul and Washington.
Issues still to be settled include the question of joint entrances to the opening and closing ceremonies, the size of the delegation and their accommodation — widely expected to be paid for by Seoul — as well as any linked discussions.
A high-level delegation accompanying the team could include Kim's younger sister Yo-Jong, who is a senior member of the ruling Workers' Party, according to South Korean reports.
