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Lee Jeong-ho

Agencies

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un greeted South Korea President Moon Jae-in with a handshake, hug and a large welcoming ceremony at Pyongyang’s airport Tuesday ahead of a landmark summit aimed at reviving stalled denuclearisation talks.
Moon landed at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport at 9:50am (8:50am Hong Kong time) on South Korea’s Boeing 747-400 presidential jet, after flying the so-called “West Sea route” from Seoul’s Seongnam Air Base.
Almost 20 minutes later, Kim exited the airport’s domestic terminal and walked towards the presidential jet to welcome Moon.
As Kim walked, a North Korean army band played music. Moon exited the plane to cheering North Koreans near the red carpet.


Moon and Kim, smiling at one another, shook hands and hugged as Kim’s wife Ri Sol-ju greeted South Korea’s first lady, Kim Jung-sook.
Talk, talk, talk: can Korean summit get Kim to kill nukes?
Other North Korean officials present were Kim Yong-nam, President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea and Choe Ryong-hae, a member of the Presidium and Secretariat of the Workers’ Party of Korea.


Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leaders’s sister, was also present to welcome Moon.
Moon is the third South Korean president to visit Pyongyang after predecessors Kim Dae-jung visited in 2000 and Roh Moo-hyun in 2007. Both met then-leader Kim Jong-il.
Korean border railway station represents staging post on journey to peace
Moon, who met Kim in April and May this year, was instrumental in brokering the historic Singapore summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim in June, when Kim backed denuclearisation of the “Korean peninsula”.
But as the flurry of diplomacy quieted down, there has been little progress in the US goal of North Korea relinquishing its nuclear arsenal.

Trump even cancelled a trip by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang for fear it would not yield concrete results.
After the welcoming ceremony, the two leaders travelled in a black Mercedes limousine with open-top rear seats to the Paekhwawon State Guest House, where Moon will stay during his three-day visit.
Kim and Moon briefly stepped out of the vehicle to greet and take flowers from people in the crowds who waved flags and shouted “Motherland! Unification!”.

Clean streets and high rise buildings were seen as the motorcade passed Ryomyong Street, a new residential district launched last year under Kim’s initiative to modernise the city.
Kim and Moon will hold formal talks from 3:30pm to 5pm, Moon’s office said.
Three big issues were expected to be on the agenda; improving inter-Korean relations, promoting denuclearisation and US-North Korea dialogue, and ending inter-Korean military tensions.

“It would be very meaningful if US-North Korea dialogue is to be resumed through my visit to North Korea,” Moon said as he departed South Korea.
“It is very important for North and South to meet frequently.”
Talks were expected to continue Wednesday before a banquet in the evening.
Military officials have in recent months discussed the possibility of disarming a jointly controlled area at the Koreas’ shared border village.
However, both sides are still divided on the issue of establishing a “peace zone” along their disputed sea boundary in the Yellow Sea.


“What we seek is a permanent, irreversible settlement of peace on the Korean peninsula” said Yoon Young-chan, South Korea’s presidential senior secretary for public relations.
Moon brought some of South Korea’s top business leaders with him to Pyongyang.
His 200-member delegation includes Samsung Electronics Co. Vice-Chairman Jay Y. Lee, who is travelling while on a suspended prison sentence after being convicted of bribing a confidante of Moon’s predecessor, Park Geun-hye.
Samsung, Hyundai in Moon’s plan to wean Kim off nukes with cash
He has denied wrongdoing and appealed the ruling with the Supreme Court.
Moon is expected to return to Seoul on Thursday morning. The South Korean leader is due to fly to New York later this month to attend the UN General Assembly, where he is expected to meet Trump.
Additional reporting by Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg and The Guardian


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North Korea

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un lays out red carpet for Moon Jae-in on mission to save nuclear talks

Moon’s three-day trip to North Korea’s capital is the first such visit by a South Korean leader in 11 years

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attend an official welcome ceremony at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, in Pyongyang, North Korea, September 18, 2018. Pyeongyang Press Corps/Pool via REUTERS

People holding North Korean and unification flags wait for South Korean President Moon Jae-in and First Lady Kim Jung-sook to arrive at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, North Korea ahead of the third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in this still frame taken from video September 18, 2018. KBS/via REUTERS TV ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SOUTH KOREA. NO USAGE AFTER 14 DAYS. BROADCAST: NO USE SOUTH KOREA/ NO USE AFTER 14 DAYS DIGITAL: NO USE SOUTH KOREA/ NO USE AFTER 14 DAYS.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (centre R) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (centre L) review honour guards during a welcoming ceremony at Pyongyang airport on September 18, 2018. - South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in Pyongyang on September 18, for his third summit this year with Kim Jong Un as he seeks to reboot stalled denuclearisation talks between North Korea and the United States. (Photo by - / various sources / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Pyeongyang Press Corps" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju greet South Korean President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport. Photo: Reuters

Korean border railway station represents staging post on journey to peace

Baengmagoji station, the northernmost stop on the Gyeongwon line in South Korea. Photo: Kim Jae-hwan

A Symbol showing the time since the Korean War Armistice Agreement front of Headquarters of the Labor Party at Cheorwon on 13.09.2018. This three-story building located in Cheorwon-eup was constructed in 1946. Used as the headquarters of the Labor Party until the break of the Korean War on June 25, it is now a tourist attraction that still the hold on to the vestiges of the Korean War. Photo: Kim Jae-hwan

Baengmagoji Station is a last station railway station on the Gyeongwon Line in South Korea at Cheorwon on 13.09.2018. Photo: Kim Jae-hwan

The Northernmost point of Baengmagoji Station is a last station railway station on the Gyeongwon Line in South Korea at Cheorwon on 13.09.2018. Photo: Kim Jae-hwan

A Virtual mailboxes sending letters to North Korea sky of Baengmagoji Station is a last station railway station on the Gyeongwon Line in South Korea at Cheorwon on 13.09.2018. Photo: Kim Jae-hwan

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Asia

Diplomacy

Moon’s three-day trip to North Korea’s capital is the first such visit by a South Korean leader in 11 years


South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrives in Pyongyang for his third summit with Kim Jong-un as he seeks to reboot stalled denuclearisation talks between North Korea and the United States.


North Korea nuclear crisis

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un lays out red carpet for Moon Jae-in on mission to save nuclear talks

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Moon’s three-day trip to North Korea’s capital is the first such visit by a South Korean leader in 11 years

Moon’s three-day trip to North Korea’s capital is the first such visit by a South Korean leader in 11 years