Korean leaders start stabilization talks
Major games expected in bid to impress Moon
PYONGYANG, North Korea — South Korean President Moon Jae-in began his second day of talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday, with the leaders planning to release a joint statement that many are hoping will keep alive tentative nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington. The North also will likely stage for Moon a huge mass games spectacle to show off its national pride.
Kim and Moon were smiling and chatting as they walked down a hallway and into a meeting room at the guesthouse where Moon is staying. Kim’s sister and North Korea’s top propaganda official, Kim Yo Jong, were in attendance. Many of Wednesday’s details were unclear, but North Korea was expected to hold a huge mass games spectacle later in the day, with Moon attending an event expected to draw about 150,000 spectators, Seoul said. It wasn’t clear if Kim would attend.
Kim gave the South Korean president an exceedingly warm welcome on Tuesday, the first day of the summit, meeting him and his wife at Pyongyang’s airport — itself a very unusual gesture — then riding into town with Moon in an open limousine through streets lined with crowds of North Koreans, who cheered and waved the flag of their country and a blue-and-white flag that symbolizes Korean unity.
The summit talks began at the ruling Workers’ Party headquarters where Kim and Moon were joined by two of their top deputies — spy chief Suh Hoon and presidential security director Chung Eui-yong for Moon, and for Kim, his sister, Kim Yo Jong, and senior Workers’ Party official Kim Yong Chol, according to Moon’s office.
Seoul officials have said the talks would focus on how to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, decrease military tensions along their border and improve overall ties. The North’s media said the talks would reaffirm their commitment to Korean peace, unity and prosperity.
Speaking at the guesthouse, Kim said North Koreans hope diplomacy will yield positive results. “I think it was our people’s wish that we come up with good results as fast as we can,” Kim said, according to the media pool reports.
Moon responded that “Our hearts are fluttering, but at the same we have heavy hearts,” and added, “We have built trust and friendship between us, so I think all will be well.”