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Kim Jong Un meets with South Korean officials for the first time ever

The despot is even hosting a dinner.

Kim Jong Un met with officials from South Korea on Monday, the first meeting between the North Korean despot and representatives from Seoul in the seven years of Kim’s leadership.

South Korea made the surprise announcement after its 10-member delegation arrived in Pyongyang for two days of talks aimed at ending the feud between the North and the U.S. that threatens the stability of the entire region.

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The high-level South Korean delegation — including intelligence chief Suh Hoon and national security adviser Chung Eui Yong — was greeted by Kim ahead of a dinner hosted by the leader.

It is unclear whether Kim will discuss the possibility of talks with the U.S., but a spokesperson for the delegation confirmed that Seoul’s insistence that North Korea denuclearize would be delivered at some point during the trip.

“I plan to hold in-depth discussions on various ways to continue talks between not only the South and the North but also the North and the United States and the international community,” Chung said shortly before his departure.

China, which has long called for a resumption of talks between the two countries, welcomed the rapprochement. “We believe it is a good thing, and look forward to a positive outcome of the meeting,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Monday.

The closer links between North and South Korea were fostered during the recent Winter Olympic Games, where the two nations marched under a single unified flag. Kim also sent his sister Kim Yo Jong to the Games, where she met with Moon.

While Mike Pence failed to engage with the North Korean delegation in Pyeongchang, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last month that the U.S. was “listening” for any indication that Kim was “ready to talk.”

However, Donald Trump, who has conducted a feud with Kim over the last 12 months, is said to be considering a different approach to the rogue state.

In a so-called “bloody nose strategy,” the administration is considering plans for a preemptive strike against a North Korean military location in a bid to scare Pyongyang into submission.

Cover image: Chung Eui-Yong (center), head of the presidential National Security Office, Suh Hoon (2nd from left), the chief of the South's National Intelligence Service, and other delegators pose before boarding an aircraft as they leave for Pyongyang at a military airport on March 5, 2018, in Seongnam, South Korea. (Jung Yeon-Je-Pool/Getty Images)