Moon calls for reunification in emotional speech

North Koreans applaud as they listen to South Korean President Moon Jae-in's speech at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps

By Jung Min-ho, Joint Press Corps

SEOUL/PYONGYANG ― South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on "all Koreans" to take a big step toward reunification of the Korean Peninsula late Wednesday in the first-ever speech by a South head of state in Pyongyang.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps

"We had lived together for 5,000 years and have lived separately for only 70 years. I urge all of you to end those hostilities and take a big step toward reunification," Moon said before 150,000 North Koreans in the May Day Stadium.

"Chairman Kim Jong-un and I will work hand in hand to build a new country, with 80 million people across North and South Korea. Let's move forward into a new era together."

Moon gave the speech after watching a mass games performance with Kim. It was one of the special events Kim had prepared for Moon, who came to the North Korean capital for this year's third inter-Korean summit, as the two leaders seek to establish a lasting peace on the peninsula.

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Moon said, "My fellow Koreans, Chairman Kim and I embraced at Panmunjeom on April 27. We have declared that there will be no war on the Korean Peninsula and opened a new era of peace.

"We have also reaffirmed that we will take charge of our own destiny … We have promised to improve South-North relations drastically so we can achieve prosperity and reunification quickly."

One of the main items on the summit agenda was North Korea's denuclearization progress. During the talks, Kim promised to take some practical steps toward denuclearization, such as closing the main Yongbyon nuclear facility.

Moon said Kim promised to make the country nuclear-free. He also said the two agreed to take concrete steps to eliminate the risk of military conflict at the border.

Moon, who was born to North Korean refugees in South Korea during the Korean War (1950-53), is well aware of the horrors of war and the pain of separated families.

During his speech, Moon said the two leaders would cooperate to find ways to "ease their pain fundamentally."

The speech made Moon the first South Korean leader to speak before the North Korean public. The speech was initially supposed to take for only one or two minutes before the performance, but it was delivered for seven minutes after the show.

The audience gave Moon enthusiastic standing ovations.

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