Defection fears at the Winter Olympics
A rare invitation to Pyongyang for South Korea's president marked Day Two of the North Korean Kim dynasty's southern road tour Saturday, part of an accelerating diplomatic thaw that included some Korean liquor over lunch and the shared joy of watching a "unified" Korea team play hockey at the Olympics.
South Korean officials said Moon had been invited to Pyongyang to speak with Kim Jong Un during the talks and lunch that Moon hosted at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on Saturday.
The two Koreas have been divided since the conflict ended in a ceasefire in 1953, and the democratic South has risen to become the world's 11th-largest economy, while the North has stagnated under the Kim family's rule.
But analysts say it may be more hard for the South to arrange a summit with the North coming off a year in which Pyongyang test-fired dozens of missiles, including three ICBMs, and conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date.
"The vice president is grateful that President Moon reaffirmed his strong commitment to the global maximum pressure campaign and for his support for continued sanctions", Pence spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said when asked about the developments.
"Honestly, I didn't know I would come here so suddenly".
North Korean media slammed Pence what they described as "snobbish" behavior.
He also demanded South Korea remove statues of comfort women that have been installed in several countries in addition to South Korea, including the United States, Australia and Germany, Kyodo news agency reported. They may also see a performance by a visiting North Korean art troupe in Seoul on Sunday before flying back to Pyongyang.
There were South Koreans who agreed with Pence's stance.
The riverside facility is named after late U.S. Army commander Walton Walker, who's considered a war hero in the South for his battles against the North during the Korean War. They were also served North Korean-style fermented fish and white "kimchi" or fermented cabbage.
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The offer puts Moon in a quandary, observers say - accept and he risks alienating key ally and protector Washington, decline and his lifelong hopes for engagement could wither.
Analysts say the North's decision Kim Yo Jong to the Olympics shows an ambition to break out from diplomatic isolation and pressure by improving relations with the South, which it could use as a bridge for approaching the United States.
Moon's office says the North Korean delegates were served traditional food from the Gangwon province, a mountainous coastal area that's home to the Olympic towns of Pyeongchang and Gangneung.
It was already known that Kim Yo Jong is an adviser to her brother; now many are interpreting her presence here - and the freedom with which she seems to behave - as new signs of the power she holds.
The official said Pence and Moon did not discuss the North Koreans' invitation to Moon for a summit in Pyongyang, which would set the stage for the first meeting of Korean leaders in 10 years.
In a stark illustration of his efforts to pull in Pyongyang without pushing away Washington, Moon watched short-track speedskating with Vice President Mike Pence at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Saturday night.
"Kim's proposal for a summit with Moon is based on the premise that the North will stick to its nuclear weapons while seeking rapprochement with the South", he told AFP.
The downside for Washington is that it could expose growing differences with Seoul on the best way to deal with North Korea and achieve the ultimate goal of denuclearization.
U.S. President Donald Trump and the North Korean leadership traded insults and threats of nuclear war as tensions rose, with Trump repeatedly dismissing the prospect or value of talks with North Korea.
Guterres was also in "the same general area" as a number of other North Korean officials including Kim Yo Jong, "but they were never in any personal contact with each other", Haq said.
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