North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are set to meet for talks that will centre on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
New details of the meeting were revealed on Thursday at a media briefing by South Korea’s presidential chief of staff.
In the first summit between the two countries since 2007, Kim will cross the military demarcation line at 9:30am (0:30GMT) on Friday for a meeting in Panmunjom’s Peace House that starts an hour later.
It is only the third time leaders of the two Koreas meet since an armistice agreement ended the Korean War in 1953, and the first time a summit takes place in the South.
The truce is still in force and Kim and Moon are expected to discuss a more permanent solution on Friday.
“This summit will focus more on denuclearisation and securing of permanent peace than anything else,” Im said.
Motives questioned
North Korea halted its nuclear and missile test programme last Saturday, raising hopes that the country was serious about negotiating full denuclearisation.
But on Wednesday, questions were raised about the motives behind the pause, when it was reported that North Korea’s test site had allegedly collapsed and was “wrecked” beyond repair.
Reporting from Paju, South Korea, Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays said the US would monitor the inter-Korean meeting closely, with a later meeting planned between President Donald Trump and Kim still hanging in the balance.
“The Trump administration in Washington will be looking that there’s no hiccups in this, that it runs extremely smoothly and that I think will then give them the confidence to go ahead with this other even more important summit,” he said.
Trump has said he plans to meet Kim by early June.
North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are set to meet for talks that will centre on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
New details of the meeting were revealed on Thursday at a media briefing by South Korea’s presidential chief of staff.
In the first summit between the two countries since 2007, Kim will cross the military demarcation line at 9:30am (0:30GMT) on Friday for a meeting in Panmunjom’s Peace House that starts an hour later.
It is only the third time leaders of the two Koreas meet since an armistice agreement ended the Korean War in 1953, and the first time a summit takes place in the South.
The truce is still in force and Kim and Moon are expected to discuss a more permanent solution on Friday.
“This summit will focus more on denuclearisation and securing of permanent peace than anything else,” Im said.
Motives questioned
North Korea halted its nuclear and missile test programme last Saturday, raising hopes that the country was serious about negotiating full denuclearisation.
But on Wednesday, questions were raised about the motives behind the pause, when it was reported that North Korea’s test site had allegedly collapsed and was “wrecked” beyond repair.
Reporting from Paju, South Korea, Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays said the US would monitor the inter-Korean meeting closely, with a later meeting planned between President Donald Trump and Kim still hanging in the balance.
“The Trump administration in Washington will be looking that there’s no hiccups in this, that it runs extremely smoothly and that I think will then give them the confidence to go ahead with this other even more important summit,” he said.
Trump has said he plans to meet Kim by early June.
Source: Al jazeera News
