North Korean delegates to joint Liberation Day festivities visited the National Assembly on Tuesday for the first time in history.

On the third day of its visit to Seoul, the delegation, led by Kim Ki-nam, paid a morning courtesy call on Assembly Speaker Kim Won-ki to discuss issues of common interest including ways to boost political exchanges and facilitate inter-Korean parliamentary talks.

In the meeting, Speaker Kim pointed out that it was the first time for North Korean officials to visit the National Assembly since the partition of the Korean Peninsula, and stressed the need to lay the foundation for dialogue between politicians from the two nations.

In response, chief delegate Kim Ki-nam, a secretary of the Central Committee of the North's Workers' Party, advocated a major role for the North and South Korean parliaments in the process of reunification, saying he was impressed by his Southern brethren’s aspirations for a unified Korea.

The meeting was also attended by floor leaders of ruling and opposition parties and the chiefs of the parliamentary unification and foreign affairs committee and the special committee on inter-Korean relations.

After the meeting, the North Korean delegation had lunch with South Korean delegates, overseas representatives, and ruling and opposition lawmakers.

After lunch, the North's delegation headed to Yonsei Severance Hospital to visit former President Kim Dae-jung, who is being treated for bacterial pneumonia.

Later in the afternoon, the delegation will join South Korean government and civic officials at Goyang Stadium in Gyeonggi Province for the closing ceremony of Liberation Day events.

Various performances are to be staged at the closing ceremony, including those by percussion performance group, Nanta, and singers Lee Sun-hee and Ahn Chi-hwan.

After the ceremony, women footballers of the two Koreas will engage in a friendly match, wrapping up three days of joint festivities.

The North’s delegation will meet with President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday and return home in the afternoon.