By Sohn JiAe

President Moon Jae-in said on April 12 that an agreement between South and North Korea alone would not be able to resolve the strained inter-Korean relationship. Only when there is an agreement about denuclearization between the U.S. and the North could relations be finally eased.

During a luncheon, President Moon asked his advisory group for the upcoming 2018 Inter-Korean Summit for their experiences and insight, saying that, “It’s not an easy task that we must hold the summit successfully so that it could lead to the success of the following Washington-Pyeongyang dialogue.”

The group consists of 21 top advisors, including Korea Peace Forum Director General Lim Dong-won and Chair Kim Jeong-soo of the Women’s Center for Equality and Peace.

“The Inter-Korean Summit will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, and, also, to make the inter-Korean relationship move toward a path for sustainable growth,” said President Moon. “We must take advantage of this opportunity.”

“We’ve had experiences with two summits between the two Koreas before, first in 2000 and then in 2007, and we have produced valuable agreements with the North,” the president said, outlining among them the July 4th South-North Joint Statement, the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement, the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration and the October 4th Inter-Korean Summit Statement.

"This upcoming summit, too, has only been made possible thanks to these experiences and to the outcomes that we’ve achieved over the past many years," the president stressed.

“The duty given to our generation now is to pass on a peninsula of peace and prosperity to future generations. Hopefully, we’ll bring together the minds and capabilities of the people and fulfill that duty through this summit,” President Moon said.

jiae5853@korea.kr