President Yoon Suk Yeol and main opposition Democratic Party(DP) Chairman Lee Jae-myung met for talks at the presidential office on Monday to discuss state affairs.
The meeting marks the first time President Yoon has held official talks with the nation's main opposition chief.
Yoon’s new chief of staff, as well as the presidential senior secretaries for political and public affairs are taking part in the meeting, for which the opposition leader arrived with his chief of staff, his party's policy chief and spokesperson.
While the results of the talks will not be immediately available, the two sides previously noted that they would focus on pending issues related to people's livelihoods.
The DP chief is widely expected to raise topics including a bill seeking special counsel probe into controversies surrounding a military report on the death of Marine Corporal Chae Su-geun last year as well as a subsidy of 250-thousand won or around 180 dollars per person which the main opposition says is necessary to help struggling livelihoods of the people.
The presidential office and the Democratic Party are expected to hold respective briefings to introduce the discussions.
Yoon had previously rejected calls for a meeting with the opposition chief but changed his stance following the ruling People Power Party’s defeat in the April 10 general elections.