North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in for talks in Pyongyang, according to South Korean officials, setting the stage for the first meeting of Korean leaders in more than ten years.
Any meeting would represent a diplomatic coup for Mr Moon, who swept to power last year on a policy of engaging more with the reclusive North.
The recent detente, anchored by South Korea's hosting of the Winter Olympic Games that began yesterday, came despite an acceleration in the North's weapons programmes last year and pressure from Seoul's allies in Washington.
The personal invitation from Mr Kim was delivered by his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, during talks and a lunch that Mr Moon hosted at the presidential Blue House in Seoul.
Kim Jong-un wanted to meet Mr Moon "at an early date" and Mr Moon had said "let's create conditions to make it happen", Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a news briefing.
Read: Kim Jong-un's sister attends Olympic opening ceremony
A Blue House official said Mr Moon "practically accepted" the invitation.
"We would like to see you at an early date in Pyongyang", Kim Yo Jong told the South Korean president during the lunch, according to another Blue House official.
The prospect of two-way talks between the Koreas, however, may not be welcomed by the United States.
Washington has pursued a strategy of exerting maximum pressure on Pyongyang through tough sanctions and harsh rhetoric, demanding it give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
"This is the strongest action yet by North Korea to drive a wedge between the South and the United States," said Kim Sung-han, a former South Korean vice foreign minister and now a professor at Korea University in Seoul.
President Moon asked the North Korean delegation during today's meeting to engage in dialogue with Washington "at an early date", the Blue House said.
A visit by Moon to the North would enable the first summit between leaders from the two Koreas since 2007.
