Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), met with South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young late Thursday.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim and Chung held their meeting in a "compatriotic" atmosphere, but did not give further details.

The South Korean Yonhap News Agency said Chung conveyed a verbal message from South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun during the 20-minute meeting, which reportedly described the results of the latest meeting between Roh and US President George W. Bush in Washington and called for the North side to make a strategic decision about its nuclear program.

Kim Yong-nam, the second-highest leader of the DPRK, hosted a banquet for the South Korean delegation after the meeting, the KCNA reported.

Kim met with some representatives of South Korean civic groups and overseas Korean organizations on early Thursday.

Chung met with his counterpart Kim Gi-nam, vice chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, on Wednesday and reportedly extended an invitation to the North side, asking Pyongyang to send a delegation to Seoul on Aug. 15 to join the celebration for the 60th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation.

Chung was here to attend the three-day commemorative ceremonies for the historic Inter-Korean Summit in mid-June, 2000.

During the three-day festival, government officials and representatives of civic groups from both the DPRK and South Korea reviewed the spirit of the Joint Declaration issued by DPRK top leader Kim Jong-il and then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung after their first ever summit, and reconfirmed common will of pushing forward the process of reconciliation, unity, exchange and cooperation on the Korean Peninsula.

It was the first time that the two governments held joint ceremonies for the Inter-Korean Summit.

The 340-member South Korean delegation, which arrived here on Tuesday, is set to return to Seoul on Friday.

Source: Xinhua