Two Koreas hold rare meeting

SEOUL, South Korea – A high-level North Korean delegation conveyed a message from their leader Kim Jong-il to the South Korean president during a rare meeting today at the presidential Blue House.

President Lee Myung-bak and the North Korean officials discussed inter-Korean cooperation during the half hour meeting, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said. He said he could not provide details about the contents of Kim’s message.

The Blue House meeting – the latest sign of warming ties between the two Koreas after months of tension – took place just hours before the funeral of Kim Dae-jung, the former South Korean president who met with Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang in 2000 for a historic Korean summit.

The late Kim, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach out to the communist North with his “Sunshine Policy” of reconciliation, died Tuesday at the age of 85.