North Korean leader Kim Jong Un yesterday attended the first concert in Pyongyang for over a decade by South Korean entertainers, including a K-pop girlband, the latest gesture of reconciliation before a rare inter-Korean summit.

The visit came as a diplomatic thaw quickens on the peninsula after months of military tensions.

The 120-member group -- 11 musical acts as well as dancers, technicians and martial artists -- gave a concert yesterday and was scheduled to hold another tomorrow.

Kim, who came with his wife, said inter-Korean cultural events should be held more often and suggested another event in Seoul this autumn, the South's Yonhap News Agency said, citing a pool report.

Also yesterday, US and South Korea kicked off planned but a low-key joint military drill.