The historic meeting was confirmed by the secretive state's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Bach was "warmly welcomed" by Kim and they spoke in a "warm and friendly atmosphere", it was reported by KCNA.

The pair watched a football match together at May Day Stadium in capital city Pyongyang.

It comes after North Korea's participation at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea last month.

Discussions today included talks on North Korean participation at the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Games.

"He [Kim] explained to the chairman of the International Olympic Committee about Korea's physical education policy and its prospects," KCNA said.

"He said that he expects a close cooperation with the International Olympic Committee and a good cooperation in the development and uplifting of athletic sports such as winter athletics and other sports in accordance with the global trend."

Bach was also invited to come to North Korea "often, as a friend", it was reported.

"I am very grateful to the International Olympic Committee for its unwavering commitment to us regardless of any political environment and conditions, and we will continue to have a positive and active partnership between our Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee," Kim reportedly said.

The German and an IOC delegation arrived in the country yesterday and are due to depart tomorrow.

He also met with North Korean Sports Minister Kim Il-guk during his visit.

Twenty-two athletes from North Korea competed at Pyeongchang 2018 after an IOC-led four party meeting in Lausanne on January 20, which also involved South Korea and Games organisers.

Both Koreas, which are still technically at war, marched together at the Olympic Opening Ceremony and a joint ice hockey team played in the women's competition.

Further moves saw a squad of cheerleaders deployed and, arguably most significantly of all, a high-level North Korean delegation travelled which included Kim Yo-jong - the sister of the leader.

Bach was invited to North Korea at the January meeting with the IOC since claiming that the country's Winter Olympic appearance has sent a "message of peace" across the world.

According to Yonhap, he flew on Air Koryo from Chinese capital Beijing along with other members of the IOC delegation.

Pere Miro, the IOC's National Olympic Committees relations director, is among others to have made the trip.

The build-up to Pyeongchang 2018 featured strained rhetoric between Kim and United States President Donald Trump over North Korea's nuclear programme and missile launches.

However, Kim made a surprise New Year's Day announcement that his country would be prepared to compete at the Games.

The two leaders have since agreed to meet while senior South Korean officials in Washington D.C. have claimed Kim is open to halting nuclear and missile tests and is "committed to denuclearisation".

Many people are still unconvinced that the cooling of tensions will be anything more than a momentary thing, however.</s>(AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin). International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, left, is greeted by North Korean Sports Minister Kim Il Guk on his arrival at the Pyongyang Airport in North Korea, Thursday, March 29, 2018. IOC President Bach arriv...

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Friday.

Bach told an Associated Press Television crew in an exclusive interview that two had a 30-minute formal meeting followed by 45 minutes of casual discussions while watching a football match Friday afternoon at Pyongyang's huge May Day Stadium. He said Kim Jong Un supported a plan to have North Korean athletes compete in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

Bach arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday to discuss development of sports in North Korea and the preparation of its athletes to qualify and participate in upcoming Olympics. He is the first foreign official to meet Kim since the North Korean leader returned earlier this week from a summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping. That was Kim's first known trip abroad since he assumed power after the death of his father in late 2011.

Kim is to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27.

Bach's trip to Pyongyang comes after the IOC played a big part in allowing North Korea to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics last month in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

He said he received a commitment from the North's National Olympic Committee to participate in the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020 and the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, along with the respective youth Olympic Games.

"This commitment has been fully supported by the supreme leader Kim Jong Un in a meeting we had this afternoon," Bach said.

Both the North and South have hailed the Pyeongchang games as a significant step toward easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula that reached dangerously high levels last year as the North stepped up its missile tests and detonated its largest nuclear device to date. Since the Olympics, the North has pushed forward with a flurry of diplomatic moves. Kim is to meet U.S. President Donald Trump by May, though the exact date and location of that summit have not been announced.

The exact reasons behind Kim's seeming change of tactics remain something of a mystery.

Hopes have been raised that the North Korean leader may be willing to discuss his nuclear weapons program and other measures to reduce the threat of war, possibly in exchange for security guarantees and an easing of the international sanctions that have severely pinched the already struggling North Korean economy.

Raising the level of North Korean athletes has been high on Kim's agenda since he became leader. Of the 22 North Korean athletes who competed in Pyeongchang, only two won places on merit and the other 20 were granted special spots by the IOC.

Bach, who is German, competed in the Olympics for West Germany when the Germanys were still divided and says that gives him a special feeling for the Koreas.

While in Pyeongchang, he said he was happy with the role the IOC played but added that sports alone cannot heal all wounds.

AP Pyongyang bureau chief Eric Talmadge contributed to this report from Tokyo.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Beijing hopes an upcoming summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in, and another one between Kim and United States president Donald Trump will yield significant results, China's top diplomat said in Seoul on Friday.

Chinese State Councilor, Yang Jiechi, said during a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, that China backs the planned inter-Korean summit - to be held on April 27 - and a summit between Trump and Kim, possibly in May, and believes they would help ease tension on the Korean Peninsula.</s>The two had a 30-minute formal meeting followed by 45 minutes of casual discussions while watching a football match

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, talks to The Associated Press about his visit to North Korea in the Koryo Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 30, 2018. Bach arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and discuss development of sports in North Korea with the preparation of its athletes to qualify and participate in upcoming Olympics.(AP Photo)

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach met with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Friday and said the North Korean leader is committed to having his country participate in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and the Beijing Winter Games in 2022.

Bach told an Associated Press Television crew that the two had a 30-minute formal meeting followed by 45 minutes of casual discussions while watching a football match Friday afternoon at Pyongyang’s May Day Stadium.

He called the talks productive and said Kim expressed his appreciation for the IOC’s role in helping North Korea compete at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea last month.

“We had a very fruitful meeting where it became clear that the supreme leader has a clear vision of the role that sport can play in a society with regard to education, with regard to health,” Bach said. He added that Kim told him the North’s participation in the Pyeongchang games and marching together with South Korean athletes were an “important contribution to a peaceful dialogue.”

Bach arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday to discuss development of sports in North Korea and the preparation of its athletes to qualify and participate in upcoming Olympics. He is the first foreign official to meet Kim since the North Korean leader returned earlier this week from a summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

That was Kim’s first known trip abroad since he assumed power after the death of his father in late 2011. Kim is to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27.

Bach, who also met with North Korea’s sports minister, said he received a commitment from the county’s National Olympic Committee to participate in Tokyo in 2020 and Beijing in 2022, along with competing in the respective youth Olympic Games.

“This commitment has been fully supported by the supreme leader Kim Jong Un in a meeting we had this afternoon,” he said. “He explained that sport is a pillar in his policy for the future development of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

Both the North and South hailed the Pyeongchang games as a significant step toward easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula that reached dangerously high levels last year as the North stepped up its missile tests and detonated its largest nuclear device to date.

Since the Olympics, the North has pushed forward with a flurry of diplomatic moves. After his summit with Moon, Kim is to meet U.S. President Donald Trump by May, though the date and location of that summit have not been announced. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he is exploring the possibility of a meeting with Kim as well.

The exact reasons behind Kim’s seeming change of tactics remain something of a mystery.

Hopes have been raised that the North Korean leader may be willing to discuss his nuclear weapons program and other measures to reduce the threat of war, possibly in exchange for security guarantees and an easing of the international sanctions that have severely pinched the already struggling North Korean economy.

Kim’s talks with Bach appear to have focused mostly on sports.

Raising the level of North Korean athletes has been high on Kim’s agenda since he became leader. Of the 22 North Korean athletes who competed in Pyeongchang, only two won places on merit and the other 20 were granted special spots by the IOC.

Bach, who is German, competed in the Olympics for West Germany when the Germanys were still divided and says that gives him a special feeling for the Koreas.

“It is the mission of the International Olympic Committee always to build bridges and by building these bridges through sport we can also make a contribution to the ongoing political talks,” he said, adding that he hopes the talks will lead “in the Olympic spirit to a peaceful future for the Korean Peninsula.”</s>Seoul (AFP) - Six years after inheriting power from his father, Kim Jong Un has established his authority domestically, taken North Korea to unprecedented nuclear heights, and is now looking to flex his muscles abroad.

Kim's shock visit to Beijing -- traditionally Pyongyang's strongest backer, although the relationship has soured during his time in power -- is the first time he is known to have set foot outside the impoverished North since he assumed the leadership.

But Kim, who is in his mid-thirties, has repeatedly shown an ability to stamp an outsized footprint on the global stage without ever leaving home.

The third member of the Kim dynasty to rule the North, he has turned his country into a bona fide nuclear power with intercontinental ballistic missiles he says can reach across the globe, including the United States -- with state media regularly picturing him overseeing launches.

And he secured a major diplomatic breakthrough for his ostracised regime earlier this month when US President Donald Trump said he would be willing to hold summit talks with the young leader.

It is a marked contrast to the situation when he took over in his 20s, when he was considered untested, vulnerable and likely to be manipulated by senior figures in an opaque and ruthless country.

But he has proved his mettle in dealing harshly -- sometimes brutally -- with any sign of dissent, even at the highest levels, while maintaining an aggressively provocative stance with the international community.

At home Kim has amassed absolute control over both the party and the military, at times ruthlessly purging potential rivals.

The most senior victim was his uncle and mentor Jang Song Thaek, who was suddenly executed in 2013, denounced by state media as "despicable human scum" and proclaimed guilty of a variety of colourful crimes and political sins.

Then there was the brazen daylight assassination last year of his half-brother Kim Jong Nam, sprayed with a deadly nerve agent as he walked through Kuala Lumpur's international airport, in a hit most analysts say could only have come from Pyongyang.

Rights groups say abuses are rampant in the North, where between 80,000 and 120,000 prisoners languish in political prison camps.

But Kim has also been keen to project a softer side, at least in official propaganda.

Unlike his father, who rarely smiled or spoke in public, the carefully vetted images of Kim Jong Un's heavily choreographed appearances show a more garrulous figure, laughing and joking with officers, soldiers and civilians during field trips, as well as giving speeches to packed halls of party functionaries.

He has noticeably modelled his image on that of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, appearing to mimic his hairstyle, dress, mannerisms and public speaking style.

But unlike the North's founder, whose youth was dominated by the anti-Japanese struggle, Kim Jong Un has led a life of luxury.

He was born to his father's third wife, Japan-born ethnic Korean dancer Ko Yong Hui, who is believed to have died of breast cancer in 2004.

Much of his early history is still surrounded in mystery -- so much so that even his precise date of birth is unclear.

Kim was sent to school in Switzerland, where he was looked after by his maternal aunt Ko Yong Suk and her husband.

School staff and friends, who were reportedly unaware that he was a member of North Korea's ruling family, remembered him as a shy boy who liked skiing, Hollywood tough guy Jean-Claude Van Damme and basketball.

He is said to have known that he would become North Korea's leader from his eighth birthday, when he received a general's uniform and the country's military top brass bowed to him.

But Kim only entered the public eye in 2008 when his father suffered a stroke and Pyongyang revved up plans for the nation's second dynastic succession.

Pyongyang is extremely sensitive and protective when it comes to the image of the ruling family, and Kim's father and grandfather are ubiquitous, their portraits adorning every home and office in the country while their bodies lie in state at the capital's Kumsusan Palace.

Despite his overseas education, Kim Jong Un is not known to have made any previous foreign trips since coming to power, and the most prominent American he has met is his basketball idol Dennis Rodman, who has made multiple visits to Pyongyang.

That makes Kim's journey to Beijing a diplomatic "coming out" ahead of planned summits with Trump and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in.</s>The two had a 30-minute formal meeting followed by 45 minutes of casual discussions while watching a football match

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, talks to The Associated Press about his visit to North Korea in the Koryo Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 30, 2018. Bach arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and discuss development of sports in North Korea with the preparation of its athletes to qualify and participate in upcoming Olympics.(AP Photo)

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach met with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Friday and said the North Korean leader is committed to having his country participate in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and the Beijing Winter Games in 2022.

Bach told an Associated Press Television crew that the two had a 30-minute formal meeting followed by 45 minutes of casual discussions while watching a football match Friday afternoon at Pyongyang’s May Day Stadium.

He called the talks productive and said Kim expressed his appreciation for the IOC’s role in helping North Korea compete at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea last month.

“We had a very fruitful meeting where it became clear that the supreme leader has a clear vision of the role that sport can play in a society with regard to education, with regard to health,” Bach said. He added that Kim told him the North’s participation in the Pyeongchang games and marching together with South Korean athletes were an “important contribution to a peaceful dialogue.”

Bach arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday to discuss development of sports in North Korea and the preparation of its athletes to qualify and participate in upcoming Olympics. He is the first foreign official to meet Kim since the North Korean leader returned earlier this week from a summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

That was Kim’s first known trip abroad since he assumed power after the death of his father in late 2011. Kim is to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27.

Bach, who also met with North Korea’s sports minister, said he received a commitment from the county’s National Olympic Committee to participate in Tokyo in 2020 and Beijing in 2022, along with competing in the respective youth Olympic Games.

“This commitment has been fully supported by the supreme leader Kim Jong Un in a meeting we had this afternoon,” he said. “He explained that sport is a pillar in his policy for the future development of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

Both the North and South hailed the Pyeongchang games as a significant step toward easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula that reached dangerously high levels last year as the North stepped up its missile tests and detonated its largest nuclear device to date.

Since the Olympics, the North has pushed forward with a flurry of diplomatic moves. After his summit with Moon, Kim is to meet U.S. President Donald Trump by May, though the date and location of that summit have not been announced. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he is exploring the possibility of a meeting with Kim as well.

The exact reasons behind Kim’s seeming change of tactics remain something of a mystery.

Hopes have been raised that the North Korean leader may be willing to discuss his nuclear weapons program and other measures to reduce the threat of war, possibly in exchange for security guarantees and an easing of the international sanctions that have severely pinched the already struggling North Korean economy.

Kim’s talks with Bach appear to have focused mostly on sports.

Raising the level of North Korean athletes has been high on Kim’s agenda since he became leader. Of the 22 North Korean athletes who competed in Pyeongchang, only two won places on merit and the other 20 were granted special spots by the IOC.

Bach, who is German, competed in the Olympics for West Germany when the Germanys were still divided and says that gives him a special feeling for the Koreas.

“It is the mission of the International Olympic Committee always to build bridges and by building these bridges through sport we can also make a contribution to the ongoing political talks,” he said, adding that he hopes the talks will lead “in the Olympic spirit to a peaceful future for the Korean Peninsula.”</s>The two had a 30-minute formal meeting followed by 45 minutes of casual discussions while watching a football match

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, talks to The Associated Press about his visit to North Korea in the Koryo Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 30, 2018. Bach arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and discuss development of sports in North Korea with the preparation of its athletes to qualify and participate in upcoming Olympics.(AP Photo)

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach met with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Friday and said the North Korean leader is committed to having his country participate in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and the Beijing Winter Games in 2022.

Bach told an Associated Press Television crew that the two had a 30-minute formal meeting followed by 45 minutes of casual discussions while watching a football match Friday afternoon at Pyongyang’s May Day Stadium.

He called the talks productive and said Kim expressed his appreciation for the IOC’s role in helping North Korea compete at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea last month.

“We had a very fruitful meeting where it became clear that the supreme leader has a clear vision of the role that sport can play in a society with regard to education, with regard to health,” Bach said. He added that Kim told him the North’s participation in the Pyeongchang games and marching together with South Korean athletes were an “important contribution to a peaceful dialogue.”

Bach arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday to discuss development of sports in North Korea and the preparation of its athletes to qualify and participate in upcoming Olympics. He is the first foreign official to meet Kim since the North Korean leader returned earlier this week from a summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

That was Kim’s first known trip abroad since he assumed power after the death of his father in late 2011. Kim is to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27.

Bach, who also met with North Korea’s sports minister, said he received a commitment from the county’s National Olympic Committee to participate in Tokyo in 2020 and Beijing in 2022, along with competing in the respective youth Olympic Games.

“This commitment has been fully supported by the supreme leader Kim Jong Un in a meeting we had this afternoon,” he said. “He explained that sport is a pillar in his policy for the future development of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

Both the North and South hailed the Pyeongchang games as a significant step toward easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula that reached dangerously high levels last year as the North stepped up its missile tests and detonated its largest nuclear device to date.

Since the Olympics, the North has pushed forward with a flurry of diplomatic moves. After his summit with Moon, Kim is to meet U.S. President Donald Trump by May, though the date and location of that summit have not been announced. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he is exploring the possibility of a meeting with Kim as well.

The exact reasons behind Kim’s seeming change of tactics remain something of a mystery.

Hopes have been raised that the North Korean leader may be willing to discuss his nuclear weapons program and other measures to reduce the threat of war, possibly in exchange for security guarantees and an easing of the international sanctions that have severely pinched the already struggling North Korean economy.

Kim’s talks with Bach appear to have focused mostly on sports.

Raising the level of North Korean athletes has been high on Kim’s agenda since he became leader. Of the 22 North Korean athletes who competed in Pyeongchang, only two won places on merit and the other 20 were granted special spots by the IOC.

Bach, who is German, competed in the Olympics for West Germany when the Germanys were still divided and says that gives him a special feeling for the Koreas.

“It is the mission of the International Olympic Committee always to build bridges and by building these bridges through sport we can also make a contribution to the ongoing political talks,” he said, adding that he hopes the talks will lead “in the Olympic spirit to a peaceful future for the Korean Peninsula.”</s>SEOUL (Reuters) - International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a meeting on Friday that the IOC would cooperate with the North to prepare for its participation in the 2020 Tokyo and 2022 Beijing Olympic Games, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has reported.

Bach traveled to Pyongyang on Thursday in a visit that comes after North Korea's participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Games helped ease inter-Korean relations.

He told Kim in a meeting that the trip was to "express the most heartfelt thanks" to North Korea's leader for helping make February's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics a Games that were "symbolic of peace," KCNA said on Saturday.

Athletes from North and South Korea marched under a unified peninsula flag at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang and the two Koreas have experienced a significant thaw in tensions since the Feb. 9-25 Winter Olympics.

KCNA said Kim expressed thanks for the IOC's support and for cooperating with North Korea "regardless of any political climate and conditions".

He said he hoped that the IOC's relationship with the North's Olympic Committee would continue to develop favorably and expected cooperation in developing and improving sport in North Korea, the report added.

An official from South Korea's Unification Ministry said it was aware of the KCNA's report but declined to comment further.

Bach had accepted North Korea's invitation in February, and told Reuters at the time that he saw sports as a way to reduce political tensions.

After Kim made a surprise trip this week to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, his engagement with the international community has sparked speculation he may try to meet other leaders ahead of summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and United States President Donald Trump.

The two Koreas have experienced a significant easing in tensions since the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February, leading them to set a date to hold their first summit in more than a decade on April 27.</s>Kim Jong Un visited China earlier this week, his first official trip outside of North Korea as leader.

Officials only confirmed the visit after it was over – but one massive hint gave away Kim’s presence, namely the presence of his personal armoured train pulling in Beijing.

Not much is known about the Kim family train, but previous accounts and footage show it to be filled with imported French wine, flat screen TVs, and plush leather seats.

A host of photos from North Korean state media provided a rare look inside the unusual vehicle – take a look inside:

The 21-carriage train pulled into Beijing on Monday night. North Korea watchers immediately recognised the green train with yellow horizontal lines, which both Kim and his father, Kim Jong Il, have used before.

The train’s arrival in Beijing on Monday disrupted the entire region’s railway schedule. When Kim Jong Il travelled on the train, power to other lines would be shut down so nobody could get in his way.

The train has an average speed of just 37mph — likely because every carriage is bulletproof, making it much heavier than a regular train.

Source: The Chosun Ilbo, The New York Times

It also has a red-carpeted ramp on which the supreme leader can board the train. It’s not clear whether Kim Jong Un used it in this trip to China.

Inside one of the carriages are pink leather chairs with small wooden tables in between. Here’s Kim, his wife Ri Sol Ju, and other officials sitting on them.

This carriage looks long enough to fit at least 20 people.

Apart from the colour of the chairs, the design inside the train carriages don’t seem to have changed much since Kim Jong Il’s reign. This YouTube video from 2011 shows how it looked before.

The elder Kim also had a flat-screen TV, wooden desk and a computer at the end of one of his carriages. The desk and computer are now being preserved at Kim’s mausoleum in Pyongyang. It’s not clear where the TV is.

Kim Jong Un also conducts official business on the train. This still from a 2015 video shows Kim Jong Un speaking to officials in an all-white conference room during a domestic trip.

Unlike his father, however, Kim seems to prefer using Apple MacBooks to desktop computers.

Kim Jong Un is known to be an Apple fan.

The elder Kim used to travel in opulence — he stocked his train with Bordeaux and Burgundy red wines, silver chopsticks, and whatever else he fancied from around the world. This is according to Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian official who travelled with the late North Korean leader in the early 2000s — when the rest of North Korea was reliant on humanitarian aid after years of famine.

“It was possible to order any dish of Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and French cuisine” on board, Pulikovsky said. This undated video shows a section of the train’s dining carriage under Kim Jong Il’s reign, which has reportedly since been renovated.

It’s not clear whether Kim Jong Un stocks the train as opulently as his father did. But he’s not known to be one to skimp — he reportedly enjoys Swiss cheese, Cristal Champagne and Hennessy cognac.</s>PYONGYANG, Korea, Democratic People's Republic Of — International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach met with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Friday and said the North Korean leader is committed to having his country participate in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and the Beijing Winter Games in 2022.

Bach told an Associated Press Television crew that the two had a 30-minute formal meeting followed by 45 minutes of casual discussions while watching a football match Friday afternoon at Pyongyang's May Day Stadium.

He called the talks productive and said Kim expressed his appreciation for the IOC's role in helping North Korea compete at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea last month.

"We had a very fruitful meeting where it became clear that the supreme leader has a clear vision of the role that sport can play in a society with regard to education, with regard to health," Bach said. He added that Kim told him the North's participation in the Pyeongchang games and marching together with South Korean athletes were an "important contribution to a peaceful dialogue."

Bach arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday to discuss development of sports in North Korea and the preparation of its athletes to qualify and participate in upcoming Olympics. He is the first foreign official to meet Kim since the North Korean leader returned earlier this week from a summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

That was Kim's first known trip abroad since he assumed power after the death of his father in late 2011. Kim is to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27.

Bach, who also met with North Korea's sports minister, said he received a commitment from the county's National Olympic Committee to participate in Tokyo in 2020 and Beijing in 2022, along with competing in the respective youth Olympic Games.

"This commitment has been fully supported by the supreme leader Kim Jong Un in a meeting we had this afternoon," he said. "He explained that sport is a pillar in his policy for the future development of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

Both the North and South hailed the Pyeongchang games as a significant step toward easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula that reached dangerously high levels last year as the North stepped up its missile tests and detonated its largest nuclear device to date.

Since the Olympics, the North has pushed forward with a flurry of diplomatic moves. After his summit with Moon, Kim is to meet U.S. President Donald Trump by May, though the date and location of that summit have not been announced. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he is exploring the possibility of a meeting with Kim as well.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.