North Korean Red Cross officials who recently met South Koreans in a regional forum were flexible and actively engaged in talks, an official who served Seoul's Red Cross chief said Sunday.
Park Kyung-seo, the president of the Red Cross in South Korea, last month attended the 2018 East Asian Red Cross leadership meeting in Hong Kong and met with Paek Yong-ho, the vice president of North Korea's Red Cross. An official who was with Park told Yonhap News Agency that there were no signs of strain between the two Korean Red Cross officials.
"Unlike last year, Park and Paek talked to each other a lot in a friendly atmosphere," said the official, who asked not to be named. "I think this can be related to the improved relationship between the two Koreas this year and also because of the upcoming inter-Korean summit."
(Yonhap)
The past icy relationship between South Korea and North Korea has thawed this year after Pyongyang dispatched its athletes to the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in South Korea, while agreeing to a summit April 27.
The official said Paek's attitude in Hong Kong was different from what he showed at the 21st General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Turkey last November. At that time, Paek reportedly looked uncomfortable talking to Park.
North Koreans have recently been relaxed when encountering South Koreans.
According to an official who attended a three-way, semiofficial meeting in Helsinki, Finland, last month, where former government officials and academics from South Korea, North Korea and the United States gathered, North Koreans were also friendly toward their South Korean counterparts.
The official said two Korean representatives had many conversations, with some North Koreans praising South Korean officials' expertise.
Experts said with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un showing his willingness to improve the inter-Korean relationship, there has been a shift in North Korean officials' attitude toward South Koreans.(Yonhap)