South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will meet Sunday with a North Korean delegation that came to Seoul to pay respects to the late former President Kim Dae-jung, a Unification Ministry spokesman said.
"The North Korean delegation is scheduled to pay a visit to President Lee before 10 a.m. Sunday," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said.
The Northern delegates are expected to deliver a message from Kim Jong-il to Lee and discuss pending bilateral issues, including the repatriation of detained South Korean fishermen in the North, the Seoul government said late Saturday night.
The last-minute decision was made at a dinner between Seoul's Unification Minister Hyun In-taek and the North Korean delegation.
Earlier in the day, South Korean presidential office didn’t give a clear answer to the North Korean delegation’s request to meet President Lee Myung-bak. The North Koreans decided to extend their stay in Seoul one more day.
Earlier, the North Korean delegates decided to extend their stay in Seoul one more day amid speculation that they will meet with the South Korean president.
In a meeting with Minister Hyun, the North Koreans requested a meeting with Lee, saying they had a letter from Kim Jong-il.
While Cheong Wa Dae was studying the proposal, the North Koreans passed their initial schedule of returning home at 2 p.m. on a flight from their country's Air Koryo, resulting in their decision to extend their stay.
President Lee is scheduled to attend the state funeral of Kim Dae-jung at the National Assembly building that will start at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The North Korean delegation arrived here Friday for a two-day visit to pay respects to the country's late former President Kim Dae-jung.
The North Koreans were the first such officials to visit South Korea since inter-Korean relations soured following the conservative South Korean president's inauguration early last year.