Two Koreas 'satisfied' with talks in Pyongyang
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong, a special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, at the Workers’ Party of Korea headquarters in Pyongyang, Monday. Kim holds a letter from Moon, delivered by Chung. On the right is Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un’s sister. / Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae
By Kim Rahn
South and North Koreas have reached to agreements on some inter-Korean issues, including a possible meeting between their leaders, and both were “satisfied” with the progress of their talks in Pyongyang, according to Cheong Wa Dae and North Korean media, Tuesday.
President Moon Jae-in’s special envoys returned home after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and discussing improvements in inter-Korean relations and denuclearization of the North with the key officials there. Details of the agreements had not been made public as of 5 p.m.
This was the first time for South Korean officials to meet the young, reclusive leader of the North.
“They produced an outcome, which was not disappointing,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity. “They made agreements to some extent, including those about an inter-Korean summit.”
North Korea’s state media, the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), also reported the two sides reached an agreement on the summit, which Kim had proposed to Moon earlier through his sister Kim Yo-jong. “Hearing the intention of President Moon Jae-in for a summit from the special envoy of the south side, he (Kim Jong-un) exchanged views and made a satisfactory agreement,” the KCNA said in an English statement.
It is presumed they agreed on the summit in a broad sense, although specific details, including the time and agenda, may require further discussion.
According to the official, the delegation and North Korean officials talked about the North’s denuclearization, including the steps toward it. Moon has so far called on Pyongyang to engage in dialogue with Washington to address the nuclear standoff, urging a moratorium on its nuclear and missile tests to gain trust from the United States and international community.
Considering the two sides showed “satisfaction” with the meeting results, expectations are that Kim may have expressed a positive stance toward talks with the U.S. over denuclearization.
National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, who led the delegation, delivered Moon’s personally written letter to Kim, in which he expressed hopes for peace on the peninsula.
The envoys had follow-up talks with Kim Yong-chol, head of the Workers’ Party’s United Front Department, and other North Korean officials Tuesday before returning to the South in the evening.
Chung and another envoy, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Suh Hoon, will head for Washington as early as Thursday to brief officials there on the outcome of their North Korea visit.
Unexpected treatment
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hosts a dinner for South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s special envoys at the Workers’ Party of Korea headquarters in Pyongyang, Monday. Participants in the dinner included National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon, and three other South Korean envoys, as well as Kim’ wife Ri Sol-ju and Kim’s sister Kim Yo-jong. / Yonhap
The delegation had a meeting and dinner with Kim Jong-un at the Workers’ Party of Korea headquarters Monday evening. This was the first time for South Korean officials to visit the building.
All five members of the delegation ― Chung, Suh, Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung, NIS Deputy Director Kim Sang-gyun and senior Cheong Wa Dae official Yun Kun-young ― attended the meeting and dinner.
From the North Korean side, the meeting included Kim Yo-jong, who visited South Korea in February for the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and Kim Yong-chol, who came to the South for the closing ceremony.
In the following dinner, Kim Jong-un’s wife Ri Sol-ju, Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland Chairman Ri Son-gwon, and two other party officials took part. This was also the first time for Ri to meet South Koreans since 2005 when she came to the South as a member of a cheerleading squad for the Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon.
The meeting and the dinner lasted four hours and 12 minutes, much longer than the one between Moon and Kim Yo-jong during the latter’s visit to Cheong Wa Dae, which continued for about two-and-a-half hours.
Political analysts say the dinner venue ― the North Korean ruling party’s headquarters ― and the participants ― the ruling Kim family including the leader’s wife ― show North Korea made a lot of preparations to welcome the delegation and show the world it is a “normal country.”
Photos of the dinner, released by the KCNA and Cheong Wa Dae, showed both North and South Korean participants smiling broadly.
It is also notable that the meeting with the North Korean leader took place only about three hours after the envoys’ arrival. Kim’s father, former leader Kim Jong-il, used to change or delay planned meetings with South Korean envoys without warning. But the current leader had the dinner as agreed with the delegates without delay and spent more time than expected with them.