Tag: Inter-Korean Summit

Here is President Yoon’s viewpoint on holding any future Inter-Korean summit:

On whether he has plans to seek a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Yoon said there was no doubt. 

“But I think the people are a little fed up with summits that are for show only,” he said. “We have to start with dialogue on humanitarian issues, and open the door to contact and dialogue between South and North. We have to set a direction by having a certain amount of discussions on both countries’ agendas.”

Yoon added that, while there is no reason to reject a summit, such prior discussions have to take place in order to produce a useful outcome at the summit, and share it with the nation and neighboring countries.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Yoon does have appoint in regards to accomplishing something from an Inter-Korean summit and not making it just another photo op. Really what has the ROK accomplished from all the prior Inter-Korean summits? The money funneled to North Korea from past summits have allowed the Kim regime to avoid collapse and advance their missile and nuclear programs. Inter-Korean business deals struck have all been reneged on with the Kaesong Industrial Plant and Gumgang Tours all closed now. These summits have been a colossal failure and Yoon appears to not want to add to these failures.

Kim Jong-un promised that he would visit Seoul and Moon Jae-in doesn’t seem to eager to force his hand to make that visit:

 President Moon Jae-in said Monday that he hopes to meet again with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as early as possible, welcoming Kim’s latest message on denuclearization talks.
Moon stressed that the venue and format of his fourth summit with Kim does not matter, as he seeks “concrete and substantive discussions” on ways to produce “fruits” to outdo those of two U.S.-North Korea summit talks.
“Now is the time to make preparations and push for South-North summit talks in earnest,” he said in a meeting with senior presidential aides here.
He added, “As soon as North Korea’s conditions are created, I hope the two Koreas will have another summit without being restrained by the venue and format.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Kim Jong-un I think will not visit Seoul unless he receive a huge payoff. His dad needed $500 million to host a summit in Pyongyang, so I am sure Kim Jong-un’s price to go to Seoul will be much higher.

Quasi-hostages, dragooned into the dreaded anti-capitalist dictatorship by their own so-called liberal former human rights lawyer sovereign. Do those billionaires strike you as happy campers? https://t.co/B9oUyyKatg

— Sung-Yoon Lee (@SungYoonLee1) September 19, 2018

Seoul announces it will open a N-S liaison office in Kaesong on Sept 14, as in two days from now and four days before President Moon’s Pyongyang pilgrimage. Moon’s visit is more and more looking like a tributary mission, just like Kim Dae Jung’s in 2000 and Roh MH’s in 2007.

— Sung-Yoon Lee (@SungYoonLee1) September 12, 2018

The Moon administration has agreed to conduct their third inter-Korean summit this year, but this one will be held in Pyongyang:

South and North Korea agreed Monday to hold a summit meeting between their leaders in Pyongyang in September.

The agreement was made during high-level talks on the northern side of Panmunjom that separates the two Koreas. They, however, did not unveil the date of the meeting.

“We agreed to hold an inter-Korean summit within September in Pyongyang” the two Koreas said in a joint press statement issued after the meeting.

North Korea’s chief delegate, Ri Son-gwon, hinted after the meeting that the two sides agreed on a date but decided not to announce it, only to emphasize that the summit will take place “within September.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the number topic I would guess they are going to talk about is how to get around the UN sanctions since the Kim regime is not going to denuclearize and the Trump administration is refusing to drop sanctions until they do.  If such talks are being conducted, hold the summit in Pyongyang makes sense because there is less possibility of intelligence gathering there to determine what their joint strategy is going to be.

It looks like President Moon and Kim Jong-un need to have another meeting to determine their next step to get around sanctions since the Trump administration will not drop them for little to nothing in return as they had hoped:

The two Koreas have agreed to hold high-level talks Monday to prepare for another summit between their leaders, even as nuclear talks between the North and the United States have stalled.

Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon will lead the South Korean delegation to the meeting on the northern side of the truce village of Panmunjom, which straddles the heavily fortified border, the ministry said Thursday.

The North offered to hold the talks but has yet to announce its chief delegate, a ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department policy. The two sides planned to discuss preparations for another summit as well as review the implementation of agreements made during the first one on April 27.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met again in a more informal summit in late May. Both of those meetings – which were the first inter-Korean summits in more than a decade – were held in Panmunjom.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Kim Jong-un must be feeling like a rock star right now with all the world powers jockeying to meet with him:

With Russian President Vladimir Putin inviting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to his country, expectations are that leaders from the two Koreas may meet in Russia this fall for the first time in a third country.

The Kremlin said Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivered Putin’s letter of invitation to Kim for an upcoming economic forum set to take place in Vladivostok in September. This came during the minister’s visit to Pyongyang last month when he met with the regime’s leader to discuss the ongoing denuclearization drive on the Korean Peninsula and Russia’s role to realize the goal.

“Details and time will be further coordinated through diplomatic channels (for Kim’s possible visit to Russia),” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He said the forum is one of the options that will allow Kim’s possible trip to the country.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Yonhap news is focusing on how Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in are getting along quite well:

Off-topic ramblings, jests and quips during the historic encounter between the leaders of the two Koreas on Friday highlighted their growing rapport despite the security-heavy summit agenda.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un met for the third inter-Korean summit at the border truce village of Panmunjom at a time when their close bond is critical in charting a path for a lasting peace on the divided peninsula.

“When will I be able to go over (to the North)?” Moon said when he first met Kim near the Military Demarcation Line, with a throng of reporters jockeying to capture their greetings before their summit south of the inter-Korean border.

Kim, in turn, made a surprise proposal for the South Korean leader to walk into the North across the military demarcation line, a 50-centimeter-wide strip inside the Demilitarized Zone that has separated the peninsula since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Ice-breaking confabulations continued during their official tete-a-tete, where sensitive issues such as the communist state’s denuclearization and the establishment of a peace regime were up for discussion.

“I heard that you had tossed and turned early in the morning as you had to participate in National Security Council sessions … You should be accustomed to waking up early (by now),” Kim said, half in jest.

The young leader was referring to a series of top-level security talks Moon held last year with his security and foreign policy aides to discuss responses to Pyongyang’s unrelenting provocations, including the sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September last year.  [Yonhap]

Here is a bit of a surprising admission by Kim Jong-un:

When Moon mentioned his wish to travel to Mount Baekdu via the North, Kim said he is worried about the traffic inconvenience in the North that Moon might experience — a rare admission of his country’s poor infrastructure.

“The high-speed train (in the South) appeared to be good … When you come to the North after living in such a condition, I may feel embarrassed (because of the inconveniences),” Kim said.  [Yonhap]

The Korea Times is reporting that Kim Jong-un has offered to visit Cheongwadae in Seoul:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was willing to visit Cheong Wa Dae anytime if President Moon Jae-in invites him, during their summit at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Friday.

He also proposed the two leaders meet more often.

When the two leaders inspected a South Korean traditional honor guard before starting the bilateral talks, Moon told Kim that the ceremony was scaled down because of the limited space in the truce village, chief presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan said in a media briefing after the first round of talks in the morning.

“Moon told Kim that if he came to Cheong Wa Dae, he could show him a much better ceremony. Then Kim said, ‘Is that so? I would come anytime if you invite me,'” according to Yoon.   [Korea Times]

The Joong Ang Ilbo has a  report about the entourage that traveled to Panmunjom with Kim Jong-un:

Nine key aides of Kim Jong-un will accompany the North Korean leader when he crosses the border today for a first-ever summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The delegation is a wide-ranging entourage of party loyalists, cabinet members and military officers that reflects Kim’s ambition to discuss multiple issues related to his country’s long-strained ties with South Korea.

Im Jong-seok, Moon’s chief of staff, told reporters on Thursday at the summit’s main press center in Goyang, Gyeonggi, that Kim Jong-un’s delegation would include Kim Yong-nam, the nominal head of state who serves as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s rubber-stamp legislature; and Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party and director of the committee’s United Front Department.

Other high-ranking party members include Choe Hwi, vice chairman of the Central Committee who chairs the State Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission within the North’s powerful State Affairs Commission; Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the Central Committee and director of the committee’s International Department, which handles foreign affairs; and Kim Yo-jong, first vice director of the Central Committee’s Propaganda and Agitation Department and Kim Jong-un’s younger sister.

Military officials include Ri Myong-su, chief of the Korean People’s Army’s General Staff, the equivalent of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Pak Yong-sik, minister of the people’s armed forces, who plays the role of defense minister.

Other cabinet members include Ri Yong-ho, minister of foreign affairs; and Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, which handles relations with South Korea.
[Joong Ang Ilbo]

The Hankyoreh has an article discussing how President Moon is proposing a liaison office at Panmunjom:

During the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that is scheduled for Apr. 27, South Korean President Moon Jae-in reportedly intends to propose setting up and running a permanent deliberation and liaison office at Panmunjeom that would serve as an inter-Korean mission. Moon also reportedly means to propose establishing and operating inter-Korean joint committees to serve as permanent bodies for consultation in areas including politics, the military and the economy.On Apr. 24, multiple sources who are familiar with the preparations that are being laid for the inter-Korean summit said that South Korea would be proposing a liaison office at Panmunjeom during the summit. While it is too early to be certain, the sources said, an agreement was possible.  [Hankyoreh]

Here is a Arirang News video of Kim Jong-un crossing the Military Demarcation Line:

Here is a Yonhap wrap up of the Inter-Korean Summit:

Overall I would say Kim Jong-un continues to skillfully execute his charm offensive in an effort to convince the ROK populace to once again give the Kim regime billions of dollars in aid for likely little to nothing in return.  I guess we will see if President Trump will be as easily convinced as Moon Jae-in is that this time the Kim regime is different.