South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his delegation of more than 50 government, business and cultural representatives have arrived in Pyongyang for a three-day, two-night inter-Korean Summit in North Korea.
It’s the third face-to-face meeting between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and the pair are expected to finalize agreements outlined during their first summit and published in the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration.
The delegation touched down on the tarmac in Pyongyang and exited the aircraft around 10 a.m. (0100 UTC) local time.
Moon and his entourage were welcomed by reporters, members of the North Korean military, a military band, and North Koreans wearing suits, hanboks (traditional clothes), and holding North Korean and unified peninsula flags, as well as flowers.
When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walked through the departure gates at Sunan International Airport and onto the red carpet, the crowd erupted. They waved flags and flowers at the young leader, cheering loudly as the band commenced playing. Kim was joined by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, who greeted the South Korean president and First Lady, Kim Jung-sook.
Moon personally greeted a few North Korean attendees during his walk down the red carpet away from his aircraft, bowing to them before entering his motorcade and departing the airfield.
The goal of lasting peace
On Monday, Moon said he wanted to achieve a lasting peace during his talks with Kim.
“Not a tentative change which could be volatile dependent on international situation, but irreversible, permanent and unwavering peace, regardless of what might happen on the global arena,” said Moon.
He went on to say that he believes the “the establishment of an enduring peace regime is the way for the South and North to become the masters of Korean Peninsula issues, without getting pushed around by any international situation and is also the path toward common prosperity and reunification.”
The primary focus of Moon’s trip is to address ways to reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula and avoid armed conflict between the two countries. His second priority is to “facilitate North Korea-United States dialogue for denuclearization.”
Moon says that denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula cannot be achieved without direct talks been Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.
“I have confirmed the true will of Chairman Kim Jong Un and President Trump several times. I believe that the denuclearization issue can be progressed at a rapid pace if the two leaders face each other again and talk,” said Moon.
Tuesday’s schedule
Following the welcome ceremony in Pyongyang, the first session of the inter-Korean summit will start after lunch. A Seoul official told reporters Tuesday’s summit would last approximately 90 minutes from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. local time.
“During the summit, First Lady Kim Jung-sook will visit Okryu Children’s Hospital and the Kim Won Gyun University of Music. The members of the special delegation will meet with the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and the business leaders will have a meeting with the Vice-premier of the Cabinet,” said Im Jong-seok, Chair of the Inter-Korean Summit Preparation Committee.
The South Korean delegation will also be treated to an art performance in the afternoon, which will be followed by a dinner event.
Talks between the leaders are expected to cover the breadth of summit topics, but not in any particular order, according to Yoon Young-chan, Senior Secretary to the President for Public Relations, who noted that conversations are expected to be candid and naturally flowing.
Likely outcomes
Handong Global University Professor Kim Joon-hyung called the third inter-Korean summit an extension of the first, during a Monday panel discussion in Seoul.
We need to have “a more concrete agreement on inter-Korean relationships and reducing the [military tension],” he said.
Citing the lack of progress on U.S. – North Korean dialog, Kim said, “[South Korea] needs to have some kind of mediating role to (continue dialog).”
He said that is contingent on what types of concession Moon can get from his North Korean counterpart and share with Trump.
Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, told reporters at the same event that he thinks officials “have communicated most of the outcomes of summit meeting.”
During Tuesday morning’s briefing, Yoon Young-chan said while a number of topics had been discussed prior to the start of today’s inter-Korean summit, final agreements remain to be made and will be the subject of talks between the two delegations.
However, if no agreements come out of the summit, Kim Hyun-wook said, “I don’t think there will be a meaningful summit between the ROK (South Korea) and the U.S. at the [United Nations General Assembly]. There will be no U.S. – North Korea [second] summit meeting, [and] no peace declaration.”
He said that if that happens, coupled with a potential midterm election defeat for U.S. Republicans, “that would be disastrous.”
Lee Ju-hyun contributed to this report.
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