North and South Korea begin rare talks on border, in push for peace during Olympics

North and South Korea were holding rare talks at their tense border on Tuesday to discuss how to co-operate in next month’s Winter Olympics in the South and improve their long-strained ties.

Senior South Korean officials left Seoul early in the morning for the meeting in the demilitarised zone that divides the two countries.

The rival Koreas’ first formal talks in about two years came about as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes an apparent push for improved ties with the South after a year of elevated tension over his country’s nuclear and missile tests.

Critics of the meeting say Kim may be trying to divide Seoul and Washington in a bid to weaken international pressure and sanctions over the tests. The talks were scheduled to have begun at 10am (9am Hong Kong time).

In his New Year’s Day address, Kim said there was an urgent need to improve inter-Korean ties and that he was willing to send a delegation to the February 9-25 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He urged Seoul to halt its annual military drills with Washington, which he called a rehearsal for an invasion, and said he has a “nuclear button” to launch missiles at anywhere in the United States.

Moon, a liberal who favours dialogue as a way to defuse the North Korean nuclear stand-off, welcomed Kim’s outreach and proposed Tuesday’s talks at the border village of Panmunjeom. Kim quickly accepted Moon’s offer.