UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam to engage in dialogue on ending the nuclear crisis during a brief exchange in South Korea, a UN spokesman said Friday.

Kim and Guterres attended a dinner ahead of the opening of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

"He did have a brief exchange with president Kim," said UN spokesman Farhan Haq.

Guterres reiterated "his expectation and hope that all parties will use dialogue to achieve the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he added.

Kim is leading the North Korean delegation to the Olympics that also includes Kim Yo Jong, the younger powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The UN spokesman said Guterres did not meet with Kim's sister.

The exchange with Kim however was the highest-level meeting between the UN chief and North Korea.

Guterres has met with the foreign minister and Pyongyang's ambassador to the United Nations. Kim holds the title of president of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, making him technically the head of state.

The UN chief has been a strong supporter of the thaw in relations between Pyongyang and Seoul during the Olympics, which he maintains could provide the basis for a broader dialogue.

At an official lunch hosted by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Guterres expressed his "total support" to Moon for establishing "a very important positive development in inter-Korean relations.

"We hope that these Olympic Games will open a window of opportunity to allow for a strong diplomatic engagement aiming at the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," said Guterres.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley has dismissed North Korea's decision to attend the Olympics as a "distraction," and Vice President Mike Pence skipped the dinner on Friday.

In December, Guterres dispatched UN political chief Jeffrey Feltman to Pyongyang for talks, but the envoy came back with no commitment from North Korea to hold negotiations on the nuclear standoff.

North Korea's race to build an intercontinental ballistic missile that could hit the United States with a nuclear warhead has raised fears of a devastating conflict.

At the United Nations in September, President Donald Trump vowed to "totally destroy" North Korea if it launches an attack on the United States.

Trump's administration has been adamant that North Korea must first freeze its military programs before talks can take place.

N. Korea confirms dismissal of top military general
Seoul (AFP) Feb 9, 2018 - North Korea state media on Friday confirmed the sacking of the country's military chief Hwang Pyong So, after Southern reports said he had been fired for corruption.

The North's KCNA news agency, reporting on a military parade in Pyongyang the previous day, introduced armed forces minister Kim Jong Gak as vice marshal and director of the military's General Political Bureau -- a post previously held by Hwang.

The General Political Bureau is the North's most powerful military body, in charge of assigning officers to posts and keeping ideological control over its estimated 1.3 million troops.

Hwang had been dismissed following an inspection into the bureau and sent to a party school for re-education, the South's National Intelligence Service said earlier this week. News reports said Hwang was caught taking bribes.

North Korea's military generals, high-ranking officials and even members of the ruling Kim family are subject to periodic purges under the rule of leader Kim Jong Un.

The nuclear-armed North is on an Olympics-linked charm offensive, sending athletes, a troupe of performers, hundreds of female cheerleaders, the ceremonial head of state and even Kim's sister to South Korea.

But the military parade in Pyongyang on Thursday added to critics' doubts in the South over the sudden rapprochement, which follows a series of weapons tests.

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