Updated

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is playing host to a group of visiting South Korean envoys, affording the autocratic leader a whole new raft of propaganda and political opportunities.

Photos released Tuesday showing Kim meeting with the envoys are all the more remarkable coming just months after a barrage of North Korean weapons tests and threats against Seoul and Washington that had many fearing war.

The North reported that Kim had an "openhearted talk" Monday in Pyongyang with 10 envoys for South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kim was said to have expressed his desire to "write a new history of national reunification" during a dinner that Seoul said lasted about four hours.

The meeting marked the first time South Korean officials have met with the young North Korean leader.