North Korean media welcomes summit

Pyongyang did not broadcast live historic inter-Korean gathering

By Lee Min-hyung

North Korea has welcomed the historic inter-Korean summit between President Moon Jae-in and the regime's leader Kim Jong-un, delivering reports on Kim's summit schedule Friday.

The Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim left Pyongyang at dawn for the meeting with his southern counterpart

The regime's mouthpiece detailed Kim's schedule at the summit venue, the Peace House located on the southern side of the truce village, Panmunjeom. This highlighting of Kim's first inter-Korean summit is viewed as exceptional for the regime, as Pyongyang rarely covers his detailed schedule.

“Kim will have an in-depth discussion with Moon over ways to improve inter-Korean relations and bring peace and prosperity to the Korean Peninsula,” the state-run media reported. “Kim will return to Pyongyang on Friday night after meeting with delegates from the Koreas.”

Moon met with Kim at 9:30 a.m. at the military demarcation line. This is the first time that Kim has had a meeting with his southern counterpart.

“The inter-Korean summit takes place at the southern side for the first time after the two Koreas were separated (in the wake of the 1950-53 Korean War),” the KCNA said.

Expectations were that North Korea would broadcast live the historic meeting between Moon and Kim, as the summit made headlines in the regime's propaganda media outlets.

However, the North's Korean Central Television, the state-owned broadcaster, did not air a live broadcast of the event.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the regime, also welcomed Kim's first-ever inter-Korean summit.

“The summit has been arranged under Kim's strong determination for unification,” the newspaper said in a front-page article Friday. But the article focused mostly on praising Kim for showing leadership in meeting with Moon.

Seoul and Pyongyang have so far held three summits; the two previous ones were held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007, respectively.

During these two summits, the Rodong Sinmun did not report on them on the same date.

The Chosun Sinbo, a pro-North Korean newspaper based in Japan, also released articles on the summit and Kim's upcoming meeting with United State President Donald Trump.

“Delegates from Seoul and Pyongyang also exchanged their ideas on pending issues,” it said. “The summit also paved the way for the U.S. to join the dialogue momentum with the North.” The Washington-Pyongyang summit is expected to be held sometime between late May and early June, but both sides have yet to narrow their differences on the exact timeline.

“The inter-Korean summit is momentum to write a new history,” said the newspaper.