President Moon Jae-in talks to the press about the outcome of the second inter-Korean talks that took place with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Thongil House in Panmunjeom a day earlier, at Cheong Wa Dae on May 27. (Yonhap News)
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Sohn JiAe President Moon Jae-in said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un remains committed to holding a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
President Moon held a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae to personally announce the outcome of the second inter-Korean summit that took place one day earlier at the Thongil House on the northern side of Panmunjeom.
“Chairman Kim made clear once again his intentions to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, as he did in the Panmunjeom Declaration. He expressed his willingness to work together to promote peace and prosperity as well as to put an end to the history of war and confrontation through the success of a North Korea-United States summit,” President Moon said.
“Sharing the common understanding that the June 12 North Korea-U.S. summit should be held in a successful manner and that our journey toward denuclearization and the establishment of a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula must not stop under any circumstances, we two leaders agreed to closely work together toward these ends,” he said.
President Moon also said, “I delivered to Kim the message of President Trump that he has a firm resolve to put an end to hostility toward North Korea and to work on economic cooperation with the North if Chairman Kim decides decisively to put complete denuclearization into action. In particular, since both Chairman Kim and President Trump are sincerely hoping for the success of their summit, I emphasized that it is necessary for the two sides to engage in direct talks to eliminate misunderstandings and have sufficient preliminary, working-level negotiations concerning the agenda that needs to be agreed upon at the summit."
"I believe that a summit, as well as working-level talks, between the two countries will work out well, as both sides clearly recognize what they want from each side," he added.
The leaders of the two Koreas also reconfirmed the need to accelerate the implementation of the Panmunjeom Declaration.
To this end, both sides agreed to convene the inter-Korean high-level talks on June 1 to be followed by talks between military authorities to ease tensions and Red Cross talks for the reunion of separated families.
President Moon said, “Yesterday’s summit was held like a routine meeting between friends. We agreed to communicate and to sit together to have candid discussions whenever necessary.”
Meanwhile, North Korea announced the results of the second summit immediately through major news outlets, including the Korean Central News Agency. The news agency stressed the details about which the two leaders talked and that Chairman Kim vowed to engage actively in efforts to improve inter-Korean ties and to establish permanent and solid peace on the peninsula. "The two leaders made satisfactory agreements on issues they discussed at the summit," the North Korean news said.
President Trump also mentioned the possibility of reinstating the canceled June 12 summit with North Korea. He posted on his Twitter feed on May 26, the day of the second summit, that, "We are having very productive talks with North Korea about reinstating the summit, which, if it does happen, will likely remain in Singapore on the same date, June 12, and, if necessary, will be extended beyond that date."
jiae5853@korea.kr