South Korea’s Moon to meet Kim at border village for summit

HISTORY IN THE MAKING This will be the first time a North Korean leader crosses over to the South since 1953

SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in will greet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday as the latter crosses a military demarcation line to enter the South for the first summit between the two sides in more than a decade, South Korea said.

South Korean honour guards will then escort the leaders to a welcome ceremony at a plaza in Panmunjom, the border village where the summit is to be held, the South’s presidential chief of staff, Im Jong-seok, told a media briefing.

Official dialogue between Kim and Moon will begin at 10:30 am at the Peace House in Panmunjom, an hour after Kim is scheduled the cross the border at 9.30 am.

“This summit will focus more on denuclearisation and securing of permanent peace than anything else,” Im said on Thursday.

“I feel North Korea is sending their key military officials to the summit as they too, believe denuclearisation and peace are important.”

Kim will be accompanied by nine officials, among them his sister, Kim Yo Jong, who led the North’s delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February and Kim Yong Nam, the North’s nominal head of state.

In addition, there will be Kim Yong Chol, a former intelligence chief and Choe Hwi, the chairman of a sports panel. The North sent athletes to the Winter Olympics, where the neighbours also fielded a joint women’s ice hockey team.

South Korea’s delegation is comprised of seven officials, including the ministers for defence, foreign affairs and unification.

After the end of the first session of talks, Kim Jong Un and Moon will have lunch separately before holding a tree-planting ceremony in the afternoon, Im said.

A pine tree will be planted on the demarcation line to symbolise “peace and prosperity”, Im said, using soil from Mount Paektu in North Korea and Mount Halla in South Korea.

Kim and Moon will water the tree with water brought from the Taedong River in the North and the Han River in the South, Im said. Afterwards, Moon and Kim will take a walk together in Panmunjom before beginning the next round of talks.

At the end of the talks, Kim and Moon will sign a pact and make an announcement, Im said. Later, they will have dinner on the South’s side and watch a video clip themed Spring of One, he added.

SOUTH TO HIT PAUSE TO SOAK IN SUMMIT

With a giant TV screen in its capital, and a break from classes for students to watch live coverage, much of South Korea will hit the pause button on Friday to watch history unfold — the first time a North Korean leader crosses the border to visit.

“It is an important moment of our history and a very good chance to feel the history,” said Park Sung-il, vice principal at Baekun Elementary School in the southern city of Gwangju, which is letting students watch events unfold on television.

It is only the third time the leaders of the countries have met, and previous summits in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, were not broadcast live.

“There is the sense of excitement in Seoul that almost everybody is preparing for celebration on Friday,” said Victor Cha, a US expert on Korea who was visiting Seoul this week.

If the summit goes well, “perhaps people in Washington may be more optimistic” that Kim’s meeting with US President Donald Trump, expected in May or June, will go well, he added.