North Korean envoys gave Lee Myung-bak, South Korea’s president, a message from their leader, Kim Jong-il, on Sunday, seeking improved ties on the peninsula.

Although a tentative rapprochement has been building for weeks, Mr Kim’s direct approach is a sharp change of tack from the North, which has always viewed the conservative Mr Lee as an obstacle to cordial relations. Pyongyang’s state media have spent 18 months spitting vitriol at the South Korean president, furious that he has made aid contingent on progress in nuclear negotiations.