President Lee Myung-bak (right) and North Korea''s chief envoy Kim Ki-nam at Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday (Aug. 23)

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met a high-level North Korean delegation at Cheong Wa Dae, early Sunday (Aug. 23), presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.

The North Korean envoys crossed the inter-Korean border on Friday (Aug. 21) to pay their respects to former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung, who passed away on Tuesday (Aug. 18).

At the morning meeting, which lasted for half an hour, President Lee received a verbal message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il through the special envoys, the spokesman said. The message included Kim''s wish for the furtherance of inter-Korean cooperation, the spokesman added.

President Lee briefed the envoys on the South Korean government''s firm North Korea policy, and asked them to deliver a message from him to Kim Jong-il, the spokesman said.

President Lee also expressed gratitude to the envoys for their visit, and emphasized that sincere dialogue between the two Koreas would solve almost all inter-Korean problems, according to the spokesman. To this, the high-level delegation from North Korea thanked Lee for giving them a chance to meet him, and hoped that the two Koreas would solve all pending issues through close collaboration.

The Cheong Wa Dae meeting was attended by South Korea''s Minister of Unification Hyun In-taek, North Korea''s Kim Ki-nam, a secretary of the ruling Workers'' Party, Kim Yang-gon, the north''s intelligence chief, and others.

* source : Korea.net