(Beijing/Seoul=Yonhap News) Correspondent Jeong Seong-jo, Reporters Kwak Min-seo, Kim Jeong-jin, and Kim Ji-yeon = National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, who is visiting Beijing to attend the Chinese Victory Day celebrations, met with North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un on the 3rd (local time) just before the military parade and shook hands and greeted him.

Although it was not a place for deep conversation, it drew attention in terms of inter-Korean relations as it was the first time since the Lee Jae-myung administration took office that Chairman Woo, second in the national protocol, met with Chairman Kim.

Speaker Wu, who attended the 80th anniversary of China's Victory Day military parade and welcome reception luncheon at the official invitation of the Chinese government, exchanged greetings with Chairman Kim in the waiting room before watching the parade at the Tiananmen Watchtower in Beijing, the Speaker's Office reported.

Attendees who accompanied him to the event reported that Chairman Woo said to Chairman Kim,"It's been seven years since I last saw you" (since 2018).

Chairman Kim reportedly responded"yes" but showed no other reaction.

This is the second time that Chairman Woo has met with Chairman Kim.

Chairman Woo met Chairman Kim at a welcoming dinner for the 2018 inter-Korean summit when he was the Democratic Party floor leader.

Chairman Woo also directly introduced himself through a post on Facebook, saying that he met Chairman Kim at the time and said,"My father's hometown is Hwanghae Province, and my two older sisters are there. My mother is 102 years old and is waiting to see my older sisters," and "My wife is also from Dancheon, Hamgyong Province, and there is pain from separated families."

The meeting between Speaker Woo and Chairman Kim is considered the highest-level contact between the two Koreas, as Speaker Woo, the head of the legislative body, visited China as a de facto representative of the government.

Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated since the so-called Hanoi no-deal agreement in 2019. Notably, North Korea cut off inter-Korean communication channels, including the Panmunjom channel and military communication lines, starting in April 2023 during the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, and even defined the two Koreas as"two hostile states."

Meanwhile, the Lee Jae-myung administration is seeking to improve relations by taking conciliatory gestures, such as suspending loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea. In this regard, President Lee Jae-myung recently mentioned the so-called"peacemaker/pacemaker" theory during his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

An official from the Speaker's Office said,"We initially expected the meeting to be difficult, but the fact that it happened is meaningful in itself."

It has been reported that none of our personnel, except Chairman Woo, had any separate contact with North Korean personnel at the event.

This visit to China was accompanied by Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Kim Tae-nyeon, Park Ji-won, Park Jeong, and Hong Ki-won, and Fatherland Innovation Party lawmaker Kim Jun-hyung. It is said that even in the waiting room at the watchtower, strict security was maintained, making photography virtually impossible.

A lawmaker told Yonhap News Agency in a phone call,"I tried to contact a North Korean official, but it was difficult because both the watchtower and the reception were far away."

Another lawmaker said,"North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Son-hui and her party came to observe the parade, but it seemed like they didn't want to pretend to know about it."

Footage of the parade broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV) shows Chairman Wu sitting quite a distance from Chairman Kim. As a non-head of state, Chairman Wu sat at the far right of Chairman Xi, while Chairman Kim sat directly to Chairman Xi's left.

At a reception held later, Chairman Woo was also captured on CCTV footage sitting quite a distance away from Chairman Kim.

The seats of each event venue for the summit and other attendees are determined in advance by the Chinese side.

Chairman Wu also met and talked with the leaders of China and Russia.

Before climbing the watchtower, Chairman Woo met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the waiting room and urged him to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Gyeongju in October.

This is the second time Chairman Wu has met with President Xi. He met with President Xi in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China, in February to discuss issues including his participation in the Gyeongju APEC summit.

Immediately following the military parade, Chairman Wu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a reception hosted by President Xi Jinping, shook his hand, and asked him to take interest in the 130 Korean companies operating in Russia.

At this meeting, President Putin expressed special interest in inter-Korean relations and the Korean Peninsula issue, and asked Chairman Wu,"What is your view on inter-Korean relations?" and "What message would you like to convey to Chairman Kim Jong-un during the Russia-North Korea summit?", the Chairman's office reported.

In response, Chairman Woo said,"I hope that the South and the North will open an era of peace and prosperity," and added,"Even in difficult situations, establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula is very important right now, and I will work towards that end."

On the 4th, Chairman Wu will meet with the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC, China's equivalent of the National Assembly), his official Chinese counterpart. He will then meet with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, who is in charge of China's economy, science and technology, and future industries.