Korean leaders embrace before summit
Easing military tension key objective for Seoul
PYONGYANG, North Korea — A smiling Kim Jong Un embraced South Korean President Moon
Jae-in upon his arrival Tuesday in Pyongyang for their third summit, as thousands of North Koreans holding flower bouquets waved national and unification flags and an honor guard quick-marched into tight lines.
Amid the pomp and smiles, Moon is looking to achieve some lofty goals, including resolving deadlocked nuclear diplomacy, easing a military standoff and promoting peace on a peninsula many feared was close to war last year.
Moon said ahead of his trip that he will push for “irreversible, permanent peace” and for better dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington during “heart-to-heart” talks with Kim. Moon’s chief of staff, however, played down the chance that Moon’s summit with Kim will produce major progress in nuclear diplomacy.
The plane carrying Moon left
Seoul on Tuesday morning and flew in an indirect route off the west coast of the peninsula before turning inland and arriving at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport about 80 minutes later, Moon’s office said.
Moon and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, were greeted by Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju. The North Korean leader then led his guests to meet senior officials, and they exchanged greetings.
As a military band played a rousing march, thousands of North Koreans, lined up in neat rows and dressed in black suits and traditional hanboks, cheered and waved bouquets of artificial flowers, the North Korean flag and a white-andblue flag with a map symbolizing a unified Korean Peninsula.
North Korean soldiers and naval troops quick-marched into position to welcome Moon, and the two leaders inspected the honor guard, according to South Korean media pool footage. A signboard said, “We ardently welcome President Moon Jae-in.”
Since taking office in May last year, Moon has met Kim twice at the Koreas’ shared border village of Panmunjom. His Pyongyang trip makes him the third South Korean leader to visit North Korea’s capital for an inter-korean summit since the peninsula was divided in 1945.
The two countries fought a bloody three-year war five years later after a North Korean sneak attack. Fighting ended with an armistice; Moon and Kim are both pushing Washington to sign off on formally ending the war with a peace treaty.