The May 2018 inter-Korean summit was the second inter-Korean summit in 2018. On 26 May,

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

n state chairman

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's se ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

met again in 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 and South Korean forces stand face-to-face. The JSA is used by the two Koreas for dipl ...

, this time on the North Korean side in the

Inter-Korean Peace House The inter-Korean Peace House (House of Peace or Home of Peace) is a venue for peace talks between North and South Korea. The building is situated in the Joint Security Area on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line bisecting the area. ...

in the Unification Pavilion. The meeting took two hours, and unlike other summits it had not been publicly announced beforehand. Photos released by South Korea's presidential office showed Moon arriving at the northern side of the

Panmunjom Panmunjom, also known as Panmunjeom, now located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea or Kaesong, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, was a village just north of the ''de facto'' border between North and South Korea, where the 1953 Korean ...

truce village and shaking hands with Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, before sitting down with Kim for their summit. Moon was accompanied by

Suh Hoon Suh Hoon (; born 1954) is a South Korean government official who served as the Director of National Security Office from 2020 to 2022 and previously as the director of the National Intelligence Service from 2017 to 2020. Overview In 1980, he ...

, Director of the National Intelligence Service of South Korea, while Kim was joined by

Kim Yong-chol Kim Yong-chol (; born 1946) is a North Korean general and politician who currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea for South Korean affairs and head of the United Front Department. From Februar ...

, a former military intelligence chief who is now a vice chairman of the North Korean ruling party's central committee tasked with inter-Korean relations. The meeting was largely centered around North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's upcoming summit with US President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

. Kim and Moon also embraced before Moon returned to South Korea. On 27 May, Moon stated in a public address that he and Kim agreed to meet again at "anytime and anyplace" without any formality and that the North Korean leader once again pledged to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in accordance with the Panmunjom Declaration.

Agenda

The two leaders of North and South Koreas exchanged their opinions about the issues and solutions for the Trump–Kim summit, as Trump abruptly cancelled the upcoming US–North Korea summit on 12 June. The principal agenda of the meeting was trying to get the US summit back on track and keep progressing the denuclearization talks.

Meeting

The second 2018 summit was established by Kim Jong-un's suggestion within a whirlwind 24 hour notice, but Moon Jae-in accepted Kim's invitation as per the critical nuclear agenda between North and South Korea. Moon had expressed his belief, and he discussed with Kim Jong-un about Kim's willingness to join nuclear interventions with Trump. Moon and Kim agreed to also convene inter-Korean high-level talks on 1 June, to be followed by talks between military authorities to ease military tensions and Red Cross talks for the reunion of separated families. Both leaders also agreed to accelerate the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration and meet again at "anytime and anyplace" without formality.

Aftermath

During the 1 June meeting, officials from both countries agreed to move forward with the military and Red Cross talks. Both Koreas also agreed to reopen a liaison office located within a factory park in

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

which had been jointly operated by the countries as an economic zone until the South shut it down in February 2016 after a North Korean nuclear test. The first talks involving the Red Cross and military were then held at North Korea's

Mount Kumgang Mount Kumgang () or the Kumgang Mountains is a mountain massif, with a peak, in Kangwon-do, North Korea. It is located on the east coast of the country, in Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, formerly part of Kangwŏn Province, and is part of the ...

resort on 22 June 2018 and during the talks, it was agreed that family reunions which had been cancelled in 2015 would resume between 20 and 26 August 2018. The first family unions since the end of the Korean War then took place on 20 August when about 330 South Koreans from 89 families, many in wheelchairs, embraced 185 separated relatives from the North at the Mount Kumgang resort, also known as Diamond Mountain. South Korean members of these families returned home on August 22. Between August 24 and August 26, a second round of family reunions occurred when a total of 326 South Koreans from 81 families traveled to Mount Kumgang to meet nearly 100 of their long-separated relatives from the North. On 14 September, the Inter-Korean Liaison Office opened at the Kaesong park location.

September 2018 Summit

On 13 August, it was announced that a third 2018 inter-Korean summit would be held in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in September. The meeting is designed to capitalize on what was accomplished at the previous two summits. Ri Son-gwon, the head of the North Korean delegation, told reporters that a specific date for the summit was already set, but that they wanted to "keep reporters wondering." It was announced on 31 August that Moon would send a special delegation to North Korea on 5 September to hold more nuclear talks and set up the summit. The delegation arrived in North Korea as scheduled. It was determined that the summit would be held for three days and would take place between 18 and 20 September. The summit was officially held on the scheduled dates.

References

External links