North Korea said on Wednesday that it would send a delegation to the funeral of former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung in Seoul, in the latest sign of rapprochement after months of military brinkmanship.

The visit would be the first to Seoul by an official northern delegation since before Lee Myung-bak took office as South Korea’s president in early 2008. Intra-Korean relations deteriorated drastically after that, as he tied provision of aid to Pyongyang’s co-operation on denuclearisation, setting off a stream of vitriol from the North.