Kim Jong-un's wife to cross border for dinner with South

Seoul says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's wife will cross the border into South Korea to attend a dinner banquet after the Koreas' summit talks at a border village.

Kim crossed the border into South Korea this morning for talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the southern side of Panmunjom. Kim was accompanied by a group of top officials but his wife, Ri Sol Ju, was not present.

Moon's spokesman Yoon Young-chan says that Ri will cross the border and attend the banquet with Kim, Moon and Moon's wife Kim Jung-sook later today.
Ri is a former singer with the North's Unhasu Orchestra. 

Shaking hands again, Moon, 65, and Kim, 34, turned to face photographers on the North and then the South before Kim grabbed Moon's hand and, in an unplanned move, invited him to step across the border into the North, where they stood face-to-face to talk a bit more.

Kim said he felt a "swirl of emotion" as he walked into South Korea, wondering "why it took so long" to get to this place, he told Moon later, at the start of their meeting.

The scene unfolded in simple, even run-down surroundings, where a concrete slab marks the border and paint is cracking on the low wooden huts.

The apparent warmth between the men was in stark contrast to the tension between the two countries last year amid North Korean weapons testing.

Since January, however, relations have improved, including having their Olympics sports teams march together under a common flag at February's winter games in South Korea.

After being led along a red carpet by South Korean honour guard in traditional blue, yellow and red outfits, the two men entered the Peace House on the South side.

"The whole world is watching" our meeting amid high expectations, Moon said at the opening. "We have a lot on our shoulders."

He said Kim's crossing the border had transformed Panmunjom into a "sign of peace, not a sign of division".

Kim responded with equal optimism, saying that "with determination, we will be heading towards a better place to make up for the lost 11 years" since the last summit.

(With Reuters and PTI inputs)