By Park Ji-won, Joint Press Corps
SEOUL/PYONGYANG ― North Korean leader Kim Jong-un promised to make a return visit to Seoul this year following a summit with President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, Wednesday.
Moon and Kim announced in a joint statement that Kim would visit Seoul “by this year,” unless there were special circumstances during a joint press conference held after their talks in Pyongyang. Before the conference, the two leaders signed the Pyongyang Joint Declaration which reaffirms the abolishment of all threats of war on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim pledged to visit Seoul “in the near future” to seek peace and prosperity for the people of the two Koreas.
If this materializes, he will be the first-ever North Korean leader to visit South Korea since the separation of two Koreas.
Emphasizing the possible visit to Seoul would bea “turning point” in the two Koreas' relations, Moon said, “Kim decided to visit Seoul in the near future. It means that it will take place within this year if there are no special circumstances.”
“I promised President Moon Jae-in to visit Seoul in the near future. We will act together by holding hands firmly and taking the lead on this holy journey to advance to peace and prosperity so that the tragedy of separation can be ended, and the sorrow and wounds in the people's hearts caused by division can be dissipated a little,” Kim said.
Moon said he had extended the invitation to visit Seoul to Kim.
Previously, Kim's father Kim Jong-il pledged to visit Seoul “at an appropriate time in the future” during the first inter-Korean summit with then President Kim Dae-jung in 2000, but failed to do so.
Experts said it was too early to talk about venues for discussions on the trip, but they will likely be confined to Cheong Wa Dae for security reasons.
Kim's move is likely based on a desire to show his trust in the South, they pointed out.
Former Vice Unification Minister Lee Kwan-se said during a television interview with KBS, “As well as the relationship with Moon, relations with South Korea based on trust helped Kim to decide on the trip to Seoul.”
Another expert said the visit to Seoul would be largely affected by the results of denuclearization talks between the North and U.S.
“If North Korea shows some crucial steps on denuclearization and makes progress in talks with the U.S., it will be no problem for whoever comes to Seoul. But it is largely dependent on the talks between the North and U.S,” said Yu Young-soo, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
Meanwhile, presidential security adviser Moon Jung-in, who is part of the delegation visiting Pyongyang, said that Kim himself had made the decision to go to Seoul.
“Visiting Seoul was completely Chairman Kim Jong-un's own decision and nobody could stop him,” the South Korean top advisor told reporters during a press conference at the Koryo Hotel after having a luncheon with North Korean officials at the Okryu Restaurant.
“I had a conversation with one of the key members of the North's unification unit sitting next to me, who said everyone around Kim opposed his visit to Seoul.”
Citing a history of the North's opposition to using the term “return visit” in a past joint declaration made in 2000, he commented, “In that sense, the North's chairman made a pretty tough decision and Moon encouraged it.”