Senior Secretary to the President for Public Communication Yoon Young-chan Briefs Media on Historic Meeting Between the South and North Korean Leaders

Inter-Korean Summit Press Corps | 2018-04-27 15:58 (KST)

I will brief you on the undisclosed conversations between President Moon Jae-in and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un, from their historic meeting at the Military Demarcation Line to their friendly chats thereafter.

First of all, the leaders of South and North Korea met for the first time.

During his historic handshake with Chairman Kim, President Moon asked “You came to the South, but when can I go over to the North?” Chairman Kim responded by stepping across the Military Demarcation Line to the South side and saying, “Why don’t we go over now?” He took President Moon by the hand and crossed north of the MDL with him. That’s why Chairman Kim and President Moon had a photo taken from the North side today, something that was not originally planned.

While being escorted by the honor guard, President Moon remarked to Chairman Kim, “Foreign dignitaries like the traditional honor guard, too.” He added, “It’s unfortunate you can only see the simplified version of the traditional honor guard routine. If you come to Cheong Wa Dae, we can show you a far better performance.”

Chairman Kim responded, “Is that so? I will visit Cheong Wa Dae whenever you invite me.”

Shortly afterward, an honor guard review took place.

After reviewing the honor guard, Chairman Kim shook hands with the official delegates from both sides and said, “There are some officials who came here today and need to return after the review of the honor guard.”

President Moon responded by saying “Then, I hope all the official delegates from the South and the North can stand together for a commemorative photo before some of them return to the North.” His suggestion led to an unscheduled photo session.

While viewing the painting titled Bukhansan Mountain by Min Joung-ki at Peace House, Chairman Kim asked President Moon, “What techniques did the painter use for this work?” and the President answered that although it was a Western-style painting, it was executed with oriental techniques.

They exchanged a few words at the reception room at 9:48 am.

The President introduced Hunminjeongeum, a photographic artwork by Kim Jung-man hanging on the reception room back wall.

President Moon said, “This is a photograph of a calligraphic work of a quote from the Hunminjeongeum created by King Sejong.” President Moon also explained the meanings of some of the old Korean words that were used in the Hunminjeongeum.

He said the first letter of two of these words were highlighted in color and they represented the family names of himself and of Chairman Kim. Chairman Kim smiled and replied that the South Korean Government paid attention to details.

President Moon asked Chairman Kim “How did you get here?” Chairman Kim answered, “I came here by car via Gaeseong early this morning. You must have departed early in the morning, too.”

President Moon said “It just took me about an hour because it is only 52 km away.”

Chairman Kim said with a smile “I was told that you used to be unable to get a good night’s sleep, being awakened in the wee hours of the morning because you had to attend the National Security Council meetings because of us. You must’ve gotten into the habit of rising early in the morning.”

President Moon responded to the Chairman’s remarks, saying “I’ll sleep well, free from care, from now on, because you gave your word when our special envoy went to the North.”

Chairman Kim said, “I’ll make sure that you can sleep soundly. While walking down the mere 200 or so meters, I wondered why it has appeared to be so distant and why it has been so hard. I originally expected to meet you in Pyeongyang, while now I think it is better for us to meet here. Many people with high expectations are watching us meet here at the very spot that symbolizes confrontation. On my way here I saw that those who had been nervous about any shelling from North Korean army, including the Yeonpyeong Island residents, North Korean defectors and displaced people, do have high hopes for our meeting today. I look forward to making the most of this opportunity so that we have the chance to heal the wounds between the North and the South. The demarcation line, which is in fact not high, may disappear with many people stepping on it and passing over it.”

President Moon said, “On my way here from Cheong Wa Dae, I saw so many people who had come out to see me off along the roadside. As such, people have high hopes for our meeting today. The residents of Daeseong-dong all came out and had their picture taken together. We have a lot on our shoulders. I hope our meeting today at Panmunjeom will lead to more meetings in Pyeongyang, Seoul, Jeju and Baekdusan Mountain.”

President Moon pointed to the paintings, “Jangbaek Waterfalls” and “Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise at Mt. Seongsan)” on the wall of Peace House and explained, “To the left is the painting of Jangbaek Waterfalls and to the right is the painting of Seongsan Ilchulbong on Jejudo Island.”

Chairman Kim said, “President Moon seems to know more about Mt. Baekdu than I,” to which President Moon replied, “I have never been to Mt. Baekdu, but there are a lot of people who have traveled there through China. I would like to visit Mt. Baekdu from the North’s side.”

Chairman Kim said, “What worries me about President Moon visiting us is that our transportation system is deficient, and you might find it uncomfortable. Those who went to the PyeongChang Olympic Games have said how fast the PyeongChang high speed train is. Because you are used to this in the South, you might be disconcerted when visiting the North. We will prepare so that we can make your stay comfortable.

President Moon said, “When the railways of the North and South are linked again, everyone will be able to use the high speed railroad. This is something that is stipulated in the June 15 and October 14 agreements but we have not been able to implement them in the past decade. We regret that the momentum has been broken as South-North relations deteriorated. Chairman Kim has restarted this broken momentum of the past ten years by his courageous decision today.

In response, Chairman Kim said, “As expectations run high, there are also skeptical views. Extensive agreements were concluded in the past, but we failed to put them into practice for over a decade. Some people thus cast doubts over the implementation of any agreement to be reached during today’s meeting. On my short walk, I thought to myself about whether it really took us 11 years to come this far. Over the past 100 days or so, however, we have made constant efforts to bring forth the thing we have failed to achieve over the past 11 years. If we move forward hand-in-hand with firm determination, the situation would not take a turn for the worse compared to the present situation.”

Chairman Kim continued to say, “I thought our meeting here would be uncomfortable. However, I now feel at ease thanks to the President’s personal letter and the conversation I had with the South Korean special envoys. I think mutual trust is important.”

Pointing to 1st Vice Department Director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party Kim Yo Jong, who was accompanying Chairman Kim, President Moon said, “First Vice Department Director Kim rose to stardom in South Korea.” This mention drew a big laughter among the official delegates, to which the cheeks of First Vice Department Director Kim flushed.

President Moon continued, “Today, Chairman Kim and I are the main characters. Learning a lesson from past failures, we will do a good job. As past agreements were reached halfway through or belatedly at the end of the term of an administration, their implementation failed when there was a change of administration. About one year has passed since I took office as President. I hope Chairman Kim will be able to keep up the pace shown in his New Year’s message to today’s meeting while I am in office.”

Chairman Kim said, “Kim Yo Jong’s department coined a term, ‘acceleration like a horse that can gallop 10,000 miles a day,’” and said, “Let’s make it the pace of progress toward the unification of the two Koreas.” The audience laughed and Chairman of the Inter-Korean Summit Preparation Committee Im Jong-seok added, “There is a saying that one should not slow down when walking on thin ice.” President Moon said, “Lessons from the past tell us speed is what matters.”

Chairman Kim said, in response, “Let’s meet more often from now on. We should be fully determined not to come back to the starting point again.” He went on, “Let’s meet people’s expectations to make a better world. I promise we will do well in the future.”

President Moon said, “I heard there was an unfortunate accident in the North. You must have been busy handling it. I was told that you went to a hospital to meet the victims in person and prepared a special train for them.”

Chairman Kim said, “I came here to put an end to the history of confrontation as well as to work shoulder to shoulder with you to tackle the obstacles between us. I came to with the confidence that a brighter future awaits us.”

President Moon responded, “It is the two of us who deal with the matters on the Korean Peninsula firsthand, but we should also work in concert with the world. We should take the initiative in handling our matters so that surrounding countries can follow us.”