An itinerary outline for the upcoming inter-Korean summit has been unveiled, with the leaders of South and North Korea set to have dinner together over the course of the meeting, Seoul’s presidential office said Monday.
The announcement came as the results of the third working-level talks held earlier in the day to lay the foundations for the inter-Korean summit scheduled later this week.
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From left: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap) |
“The South and the North have held three rounds of working-level talks on protocol, security measures and media coverage of the April 27 summit at Panmunjeom. Today, we reached a final agreement,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kwun Hyuk-ki told a press briefing.
The meeting was held for nearly four hours at the joint security area of Panmunjeom inside the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, according to Cheong Wa Dae. The JSA will serve as the venue for the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un slated for Friday.
Both sides also agreed that the summit will begin before noon, according to Kwun, who had attended Monday’s talks. The North will also dispatch a cross-border team in advance Wednesday, he added. The team will participate in a joint rehearsal for the summit on the day of arrival, after a separate rehearsal by the South the previous day. A final rehearsal is to be held Thursday.
An official welcoming ceremony will be held when Kim crosses the military demarcation line, the de facto border bisecting the Korean Peninsula.
The two sides have been engaged in preparation talks initiated after Kim agreed to hold an inter-Korean summit and discuss denuclearization with US President Donald Trump.
Monday’s talks focused on hammering out details regarding protocols, security measures and media coverage for the summit.
Regarding media coverage of the summit, the South Korean press covering the event at Panmunjeom will be able to film Kim at the North Korean side of the border, when he steps over the military demarcation line.
Cheong Wa Dae previously said the event will be broadcast live and relayed to the public online.
Friday’s meeting will mark the third inter-Korean summit. The two previous summits were both held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007.
Along with the denuclearization of the North, replacing the Korean armistice with a peace treaty is likely to be a top agenda at the summit.
The two Koreas remain technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice.
A telephone conversation between Moon and Kim may take place ahead of the summit, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials.
Seoul and Pyongyang have already set up a direct telephone line to allow direct and frequent discussions between the leaders.
By Jung Min-kyung (
mkjung@heraldcorp.com)
