Historic Korea-North Korea meeting set for April 27
(Baonghean.vn) - The leaders of North Korea and South Korea will meet for the first time since 2007 on April 27. That was the information announced by both sides on March 29 after high-level negotiations.
 |
| South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (left) shakes hands with North Korean delegation chief Ri Son Gwon at Panmunjom on March 29. Photo: AP |
Earlier, South Korean and North Korean officials met at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two countries to discuss the timing of an important summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Bilateral talks began at Tongil-gak, located north of the Panmunjom truce village in the heavily guarded DMZ, at 10 a.m. local time.
The upcoming summit will mark the first time since 2007 that the two countries' top leaders have met, part of an international diplomatic upheaval following a sudden warming in relations on the Korean Peninsula.
In the surest sign yet that Kim Jong-un intends to engage in international talks, the North Korean leader made his first foreign trip since taking office to Beijing this week to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The trip is part of an effort to improve ties between the longtime allies that have become strained in recent years.
US President Donald Trump is expected to meet the North Korean leader before the end of May, marking the first time a sitting US leader has met a member of the Kim family.
In addition, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also plans to meet Mr. Trump soon in Florida, most likely to mention a list of concerns about the possibility of direct confrontation.
 |
| South Korean soldiers watch as a convoy carrying a North Korean delegation crosses the Unification Bridge leading to the village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone on March 29. Photo: AP |
Expectations of a joint statement
The North and South Korean delegations were led by figures who participated in the first round of talks in January, after Pyongyang agreed to reopen diplomatic communication lines with Seoul. Specifically, Ri Son Gwon - chairman of Pyongyang's Committee for the National Reunification - led the North Korean delegation, while Unification Minister Cho represented the Seoul side.
A South Korean Unification Ministry official told CNN that the two sides discussed possible dates for the summit between Moon and Kim during the meetings, and are expected to issue a joint statement later in the day.
In the first hours of talks, both sides praised the diplomatic achievements so far, highlighting the success of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang with the participation of North Korean athletes.
“It has been less than three months since we met on January 9 and a lot has happened between the two Koreas,” South Korean Minister Cho said during the morning session.
North Korean representative Ri also expressed agreement, affirming that visiting Tongil-gak made North Korean members “emotional”. “Tongil-gak and Panmunjom are symbols of the divided Korea,” he said.
The South Korean president has long pushed for strong diplomatic relations with North Korea, saying at his 2017 inauguration that “for peace on the Korean Peninsula, I will do everything I can.”
Negotiating with North Korea’s young leader, however, is both a hopeful and risky move, with previous rounds of talks before Kim Jong-un took office yielding little progress on denuclearization.
The warming of diplomatic relations between the two Koreas this year stands in stark contrast to 2017, when the peninsula appeared poised for conflict, with Mr. Kim overseeing a string of missile and nuclear tests and Mr. Trump promising “fire and fury” as Pyongyang threatened Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. mainland.
