With big hugs, Moon and Kim kick off inter-Korean summit

Sep 19, 2018, 09:21 am

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President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wave as they drive through Pyongyang on Sept. 18./ Source: Joint Press Corps

By AsiaToday reporter Joo Sung-sik

President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met once again on Tuesday for a historic summit in Pyongyang to determine the future of the Korean Peninsula. The meeting between Moon and Kim came only 115 days after the two last met on May 26 in the border village of Panmunjom, North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un welcomed Moon Jae-in with an unprecedentedly high level of courtesy, raising hopes for the outcome of the summit. "I was overwhelmed because the people of Pyongyang welcomed us so enthusiastically," Moon told Kim after arriving at the North's state guesthouse Paekhwawon. "If the people of the South see the enthusiastic welcome of the people in Pyongyang, they too may be moved and touched."

"Now that spring of Panmunjom has led to the autumn of Pyongyang, it is now time for us to truly make progress," Moon told Kim.

In response, Kim said the welcome reflects North Korean people's wish that the two sides make bigger achievements at a faster pace. "I think we have to remember the wishes of the people of North and South and produce bigger outcomes with faster footsteps," Kim said.

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook arrived at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang at about 10:09 a.m..With big hugs and handshakes, Moon and Kim exchanged greetings and talked to each other for a while. North Korean first lady Ri Sol-ju attended the welcoming ceremony as well.

The leaders later held their first official meeting at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) to discuss openly about ways to resume the U.S.-North Korea dialogue and to ease military tensions by improving inter-Korean relations and taking steps towards denuclearization. Above all, the two discussed in depth the practical measures to fundamentally eliminate military conflict and war threat based on mutual consultations.

The meeting involved Moon's top security adviser Chung Eui-yong and National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon. On the North Korean side sat Kim Yong-chol, a senior official of the Workers' Party, and the North Korean leader's younger sister Kim Yo-jong, who is also a senior member of the Central Committee of the North's ruling party.

The summit is meaningful in that it provided a basis for regular meetings between the two Koreas, unlike the past two summits held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007.

The two leaders will hold talks again on Wednesday before Moon attends a farewell dinner, possibly hosted by Kim.

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