North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae In have exchanged personal letters, the North's official media reported Friday, despite rising tensions over Pyongyang's military provocations.
Kim and Moon shared the view that inter-Korean relations "would improve and develop" if the North and South "make tireless efforts with hope," the Korean Central News Agency said.
In Seoul, presidential spokeswoman Park Kyung Mee said that in his letter to Kim, Moon said, "Holding the hands of Chairman Kim, I took one clear step that would change the fate of the Korean Peninsula."
The exchange between the two leaders came just days after South Korea and its defence ally the United States began joint springtime military exercises, which the North slammed as a "rehearsal" for war.
By improving ties with Seoul during Moon's remaining tenure, Pyongyang might be trying to urge South Korea's conservative President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol to abide by joint declarations previously signed by Kim and Moon, pundits said. Yoon will take office on May 10.
KCNA said Kim received a personal letter from Moon on Wednesday and replied to him the following day, adding the exchange of letters between the two leaders is "an expression of their deep trust."
"Kim Jong Un appreciated the pains and effort taken by Moon Jae In for the great cause of the nation until the last days of his term of office," the news agency said.
Spokeswoman Park relayed that Kim said in his letter he regretted not being able to achieve as much as the two leaders had hoped.
For his part, the South Korean president asked the North Korean leader to resume talks with the United States soon and to proceed with dialogue with the incoming Yoon administration, the spokeswoman said.
Kim and Moon met three times during a period of rapprochement in the divided Korean Peninsula beginning in 2018. In the joint declaration they signed at their summit meeting in Pyongyang in September that year, the two leaders agreed to take steps to cool military tensions and improve bilateral ties.
But in recent years, inter-Korean relations have sharply deteriorated, as United States-North Korea negotiations over denuclearization and sanctions relief stalled for more than two years.
Kim is believed to be irritated that Moon hesitated to move forward on economic cooperation projects with Pyongyang, including reviving operations at the Kaesong industrial park, near the border with the South, amid opposition from Washington.
On Sunday, KCNA reported Kim observed the test-firing of a "new-type tactical guided weapon" the previous day. Some analysts say it can carry a tactical nuclear weapon, which could be used in a limited strike.
Speculation lingers that in the not-so-distant future, North Korea may stage its seventh nuclear test or test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the continental US.
The United States and North Korea remain technically in a state of war as the 1950-1953 Korean War, in which US-led United Nations forces fought alongside South Korea against the North supported by China and the Soviet Union, ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
