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South Korean special envoy Chung Eui-young meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on Mar. 5. Kim was carrying a personal letter written by South Korean President Moon Jae-in. In the background is Kim Yo-jong

Just three hours after Chung Eui-yong, Director of the Blue House’s National Security Office, arrived in Pyongyang on the afternoon of Mar. 5 as the head of a five-person special delegation to North Korea, he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and had dinner with him. The special delegation touched down at Pyongyang International Airport at 2:50 pm (2:20 pm in North Korea) and met Kim at 6 pm.

The previous North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, would often refuse to commit to meeting with special delegations to the North and only meet them on the final day of their visit. That happened during visits to the North by former National Intelligence Service director Kim Man-bok in Aug. 2007 and by former Unification Minister Chung Dong-young in June 2005. But on the first day of this visit, Kim Jong-un met the special delegation almost as soon as they arrived and then had dinner with them.

Even though Kim’s meeting and dinner with the special delegation had been coordinated in advance, Blue House officials were unsure whether he would keep his promise to meet the delegation in the early afternoon. A considerable number of officials expected that the meeting with Kim might be delayed until Mar. 6. The prompt meeting is taken as underlining Kim’s commitment to improving inter-Korean relations.

The special delegation departed from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam in a charter plane at 1:49 pm and arrived at Pyongyang International Airport an hour later. This is the first time in 10 years and seven months that a special envoy to the North had set foot in Pyongyang since Kim Man-bok’s visit in Aug. 2007, during the presidency of Roh Moo-hyun.

North Korea made sure that its top officials responsible for dealing with the South were present to welcome the special delegation. The South Korean officials were greeted on the plane by Ri Hyon, the director-general of the North Korean Workers’ Party’s (KWP) United Front Department and at the airport by Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, who was on the high-ranking delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics last month, and Maeng Kyong-il, vice director of the United Front Department.

After ten minutes of casual conversation in the VIP room at Pyongyang International Airport, the members of the special delegation were escorted to the Kobangsan Guest House, their accommodations on the banks of the Taedong River. When they arrived at 3:40 pm, Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the KWP Central Committee, was on hand to greet them.

“The Kobangsan Guest House is a luxury resort located on the banks of the Taedong River in Pyongyang. We heard from the special delegation that, in light of the North Korean officials who greeted them, the security guards and the state of preparations at the resort, the North Koreans apparently went to a lot of trouble to welcome the South Korean delegation,” said Blue House spokesperson Kim Eui-kyum.

At 3:40 pm, the members of the special delegation discussed their schedule in North Korea with Kim Yong-chol, Ri Son-gwon and Maeng Kyong-il for 15 minutes and confirmed plans to have a meeting and dinner with Kim Jong-un at 6 pm. The meeting and dinner followed arrangements previously made during Kim Yong-chol’s meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyeongchang last month.

“I understand that the special delegation will not be having another meeting with Kim on Mar. 6. They talked about the important issues today, and I presume that will serve as a guideline for their discussion of the practical details on Mar. 6,” Kim Eui-kyum said.

Before departing on the trip to North Korea, Chung Eui-yong delivered a message to the South Korean public in the Blue House press center: “This visit was arranged to reciprocate the special envoy and the high-ranking delegation that North Korea sent during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. We will do our best, to the full extent of our power and wisdom, to live up to the South Korean public’s interest and support, as well as to meet expectations both at home and abroad.” On the morning of Mar. 5, Chung and National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon met with President Moon at the Blue House to brief him on their upcoming departure.

At 5:35 pm on Mar. 5, North Korean media – including Korean Central Television, Korean Central Broadcasting Station and Pyongyang Broadcasting Station – reported that, “The South Korean president’s special delegation, including Blue House National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong, arrived in Pyongyang today. The delegation was greeted at the Pyongyang International Airport by officials in charge of relations [with South Korea], including Comrade Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.”

By Seong Yeon-cheol and Noh Ji-won, staff reporters

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