By Ju-min Park and Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shook hands with the speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, Woo Won-shik, in Beijing on Wednesday, Woo’s office said.
The pair shook hands before the start of a military parade they were attending in China to celebrate the formal surrender of Japan in World War Two, his office said in a statement. Woo was representing South Korea at the event.
Along with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Woo has called for the resumption of dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang after a period of particularly strained ties.
North Korea has so far rebuffed overtures from Seoul and said it was not interested in talking to South Korea.
In 2018, Woo met Kim when then South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a summit with Kim.
On Wednesday, Woo told Kim that it had been seven years since they last met, but Kim did not say anything other than “yes”, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing observers.
Woo also met President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, and the Russian leader asked him if there was any message that he could relay to Kim, Woo’s office said.
Woo responded by saying that it was “very important” now to build peace on the Korean Peninsula, despite difficult circumstances.
Before leaving for Beijing, Woo had said it was unclear if he would be able to meet Kim, but that if he did he would like to discuss how to build peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Several South Korean lawmakers, including a veteran politician who facilitated inter-Korean talks in the past, accompanied Woo in Beijing.
But, those lawmakers did not contact North Korean officials who also attended event, Yonhap said.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Ju-min Park; Editing by Ed Davies and Kim Coghill)
