Inter-Korean summits are meetings between the leaders of

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. To date, there have been five such meetings so far (

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, April 2018, May 2018, and September 2018), three of them being in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, with another two in

Panmunjom Panmunjom (also spelled Panmunjeom) was a village just north of the ''de facto'' border between North Korea and South Korea, where the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War was signed. It was located in what is now Paju, Gy ...

. The importance of these summits lies in the lack of formal communication between North and South Korea, which makes discussing political and economic issues difficult. The summits' agendas have included topics such as the ending of the 1950-53 war (currently there remains an

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

in force), the massive deployment of troops at the DMZ (approximately two million in total), the development of nuclear weapons by North Korea, and human rights issues., BBC, Tuesday, 2 October 2007, 10:14 GMTIn pictures: Historic crossing
, BBC, 2 October 2007, 10:15 GMT Originally, the first inter-Korean summit was planned to take place on 25 July 1994 but the death of

Kim Il Sung Kim Il Sung (born Kim Song Ju; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

on 8 July, just 17 days prior to the scheduled meeting, meant these plans were abandoned. 2018 inter-Korean summit 01

2000 summit

In 2000, the representatives of the two governments met for the first time since the division of the Korean peninsula.

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (, ; 6 January 192418 August 2009) was a South Korean politician, activist and statesman who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. Kim entered politics as a member of the new wing of the Democratic Pa ...

, the

President of South Korea The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (), is the head of state and head of government of South Korea. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of South Korea, government and is ...

, who arrived at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, met

Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader of North Korea from Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung, the de ...

Supreme Leader of North Korea The supreme leader of North Korea () is the ''de facto'' hereditary dictatorship, hereditary Supreme leader, leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, North Korea, the state and the Korean People's Army. The title is honorary, given only afte ...

, directly under the trap of the airport, and the rallies and divisions of the People's Army Corps were held. * Participants: Kim Dae-jung, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong Il, Supreme Leader of North Korea * Place of meeting: Pyongyang, North Korea * Date of the meeting: June 13–15, 2000 * Results of talks:

June 15th North–South Joint Declaration __NOTOC__ The June 15th North–South Joint Declaration was adopted between leaders of North Korea and South Korea in June 2000 after various diplomatic meetings between the North and South. As a result of the talks, numerous separated families ...

2007 summit

In June 2007, a summit declaration was adopted, which included the realization of the June 15 Joint Declaration, the promotion of a three-party or four-party summit meeting to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula, and active promotion of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects. * Participants:

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (, ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea from 2003 to 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong Il, Supreme Leader of North Korea * Place of meeting: Pyongyang, North Korea * Date of the meeting: October 2–4, 2007 * Results of talks: 2007 North–South Summit Declaration

April 2018 summit

A summit was held on 27 April 2018 in South Korea's portion of the

Joint Security Area The Joint Security Area (JSA, often referred to as the Truce Village or Panmunjom) is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where North Korea, North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face. The JSA is used by the two Koreas ...

. It was the third summit between South and North Korea, agreed by South Korea's president,

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...

, and North Korea's Supreme Leader,

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

. * Participants: Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong Un, Supreme Leader of North Korea * Place of meeting:

, South Korea * Date of the meeting: April 27, 2018 * Results of talks:

Panmunjom Declaration The Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula was adopted between the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, and the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, on 27 April 2018, during the 2018 int ...

May 2018 summit

On 26 May 2018, Kim and Moon met again in the Joint Security Area. The meeting took two hours, and unlike other summits it had not been publicly announced beforehand.

September 2018 summit

On 13 August,

Blue House Cheong Wa Dae (), also known as the Blue House in English, is a public park that was the former Office of the President of South Korea, executive office and residence of the president of South Korea. Located in Seoul's Jongno District, directl ...

announced that South Korea's president attended the third inter-Korean summit with leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on 18–20 September. The agenda would be finding the strategy of the breakthrough in its hampered talks with U.S. and solution for the denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. * Participants: Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong Un, Supreme Leader of North Korea * Place of meeting: Pyongyang, North Korea * Date of the meeting: September 18–20, 2018 * Results of talks: along with a commitment for a future summit meeting in Seoul.

Press releases

Two Koreas to hold summit (CNN, Aug 7, 2007)New hope of inter-Korean detente (UPI, Aug 10, 2007)

Footnotes

References

* ttps://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23449 Ban Ki-moon welcomes forthcoming inter-Korean summitbr>Inter-Korean summit welcomeLooking forward to new aspect of inter-Korean summitthe eight-point agreement by the leaders of the two Koreas at the end of their summit (quoted by koreanblog.com)2nd South-North Korean Summit Joint Statement
The Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University * Inter-Korean Liaison Office bombing

External links

The inter-Korean summit:Evaluation and Tasks AheadThe inter-Korean summit and Unification FormulaeThe official website of the Republic of KoreaInter-Korean dialogue
{{Foreign relations of North Korea Politics of Korea 2000 in North Korea 2007 in North Korea 2000 in South Korea 2007 in South Korea 2000 in international relations 2007 in international relations North Korea–South Korea relations Korean reunification