**South Korea will approve North Korea’s planned delegation to the funeral of former President Kim Dae-jung, South Korean media have reported.**It will be the highest level delegation from the North to visit the South in at least two years.
Separately, North Korea has sent “good signals” that it wants to restart dialogue with the US over its nuclear programme, a US politician has said.
The late Kim Dae-jung was renowned for his efforts at dialogue with the North.
North Korea sent condolences directly to his family, and has sent the names of a six-person delegation it wants to attend the funeral scheduled for Sunday.
South Korea will hold a state funeral for Kim Dae-jung at the National Assembly in Seoul, amid intense mourning for the man credited with opening dialogue with the North.
A spokesperson from South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the names would be approved.
The delegation will be led by senior Workers’ Party official Kim Ki-nam and will include the country’s spy chief, Kim Yang-gon. The two are considered senior aides to the North’s leader Kim Jong-il.
Ready to talk
A recent offer by the North to restart family reunion programmes has prompted the South Korean office of the Red Cross to propose fresh talks next week.
“Our proposal will be sent to North Korea today, calling for three-day Red Cross talks between the two sides from August 26,” said a spokesman for the Red Cross, which runs the reunion programme along with its Northern counterpart.
Tens of thousands of family members have been separated since the 1950-53 war and in many cases do not even know if loved ones are still alive.
The latest moves come after US politician Bill Richardson held rare talks with North Korean envoys in his state of New Mexico.
Mr Richardson, New Mexico’s governor, said he had detected a “lessening of tension” since former US President Bill Clinton’s recent visit to Pyongyang.
But he said North Korea still refused to return to multilateral talks.
He said the recent visit by Mr Clinton to North Korea, to secure to the release of two US journalists, had “helped thaw relations”.
Pyongyang had “obviously used the journalists as a bargaining chip” and was now seeking a “gesture” in return, Mr Richardson said.
“The North Koreans are sending good signals, that they’re ready to talk directly to the United States,” he said.
Mr Richardson has a history with North Korea: on two occasions in the 1990s he visited Pyongyang to secure the release of Americans being held there.
The BBC’s Charles Scanlon said North Korea’s diplomacy is following a familiar pattern - first belligerence: the walkouts and flaunting of military muscle, followed by a return to diplomacy and demands for further concessions.