North’s Kim, S Korean president hold talks

SEOUL : South Korea’s president and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un drove together through the streets of Pyongyang on Tuesday past thousands of cheering citizens before opening a summit where Moon Jae-in will seek to reboot stalled denuclearisation talks between his hosts and the United States.

Kim and Moon embraced at Pyongyang’s international airport — where the North Korean leader had supervised missile launches last year as tensions mounted.

The North’s unique brand of choreographed mass adulation was on full display as hundreds of people waved North Korean flags and another depicting an undivided peninsula -- while the South’s own emblem was only visible on Moon’s aircraft.

Thousands of people, holding bouquets and chanting in unison “Reunification of the country!”, lined the streets as Kim and Moon rode through the city in an opentopped vehicle, passing the Kumsusan Palace where Kim’s predecessors -- his father and grandfather -- lie in state.

“I am acutely aware of the weight that we bear,” Moon told Kim as they opened formal talks at the headquarters of the ruling Workers’ Party, adding he felt a “heavy responsibility”.

At a banquet after the first day of the summit, Moon said the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of peace” were priorities. The South Korean leader said there would be challenges ahead but that he and Kim had “trust and friendship”.

Kim hailed their relationship and said they would discuss “various issues... in a frank and openminded manner”.