By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
Seoul’s unification minister said Sunday that he was told North Korea’s leader has “no problem” with his health, after holding talks with high-profile officials from Pyongyang who paid an unanticipated visit to the South’s port city of Incheon for the Asian Games closing ceremony.
On Saturday, Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae had welcomed North Korea’s delegation, which included Hwang Pyong-so – who is considered to be second in seniority only to the North’s leader Kim Jong-un.
Accompanying Hwang were Workers’ Party of Korea Secretary Choe Ryong-hae and Kim Yang-gon, who oversees inter-Korean ties.
Ryoo told local broadcaster KBS that the “talks paved the way for improving inter-Korean ties.”
But there was also the question of Kim Jong-un – whose regular public appearances via North Korea’s state-media ended more than a month ago.
Unsubstantiated claims ranging from serious health concerns to an unannounced coup in the North have been widely reported.
“I asked [Kim Yang-gon] about the health condition of the North Korean leader and Kim responded that there is no problem with his leader's health,” Ryoo said.
The North’s state media did recently concede that Kim Jong-un, who is still in his early 30s, was “unwell” after he was seen to be limping this year.
While conspiracy theorists will continue to question Kim’s public absence, the two Koreas have agreed to hold another round of high-level talks in the coming weeks.
The turnaround from the North given its sudden offer last Friday to send a delegation is particularly significant after Pyongyang rejected Seoul’s offer of talks in August following several years of frosty ties, intermittent provocations and occasional attacks.
It remains to be seen whether a first inter-Korean summit might be held since 2007, but there has also been a shift in the North’s attitude toward South Korean President Park Geun-hye – who has been repeatedly referred to as a “prostitute” by North Korea’s state media.
Before returning to Pyongyang, the North’s delegation sent Park a “heartfelt greeting,” according to the South’s unification minister – although there was no individual message from North Korea’s leader.
The two Koreas remain technically at war as they never signed a peace treaty after a ceasefire brought the 1950-53 Korean War to a halt.
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