RoK to mark anniversary of 1st summit with DPRK

4/23/2019 - 5:54:47 PM

The Republic of Korea (RoK) will organize a ceremony this week to mark the 1st anniversary of the summit between President Moon Jae-in and leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) (27/4/2018 - 27/4/2019).

The Unification Ministry in Seoul said in a statement that the event, called "The Long Road”, is scheduled to feature artists from RoK, the United States, Japan and China, and will be held on April 27th at the border village of Panmunjom.

The RoK on April 22nd invited DPRK officials to the event; however, Seoul was yet to receive a response from the neighbor at a moment marked by uncertainty over engagement with Pyongyang.

The two leaders have met three times in 2018 amid warming ties. But exchanges between Seoul and Pyongyang have significantly decreased since the failure to reach agreement in Hanoi.

Mr. Moon and Kim met each other two times in the Truce Village of Panmunjom, on April 27thand May 26th. The third inter-Korean summit took place at Pyongyang on September 20th.

Through three summits between Moon and Kim, the Koreas agreed to a variety of goodwill gestures and vowed to resume economic cooperation when possible, voicing optimism that international sanctions could end to allow such activity.

At the events, the two leaders signed the Panmunjom and Pyongyang Declarations, in which President Moon Jae-in and leader Kim Jong-un agreed to end hostile relations, increase cooperation and exchanges, and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

Earlier, DPRK leader Kim Jong-un on April 27th, 2018 officially stepped over a cracked slab of concrete, the world’s most heavily armed border, to greet the RoK’s President Moon Jae-in.

"I am happy to meet you," said President Moon to Kim. PresidentMoon Jae-in also briefly stepped into the DPRK before walking back.

"A new history begins now - at the starting point of history and the era of peace," read the message President Kim wrote in a guestbook at the Peace House summit venue.

President Kim Jong-un became the first DPRK leader to cross into RoK territory since the end of the Korean War in 1953./.

Source: DCS

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