South Koreans welcome inter-Korean summit

People pass by a big banner featuring the summit which hangs on the Seoul Metropolitan Library building, Thursday. / Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min

By Kim Jae-heun, Jung Da-min

South Koreans of all ages are welcoming the inter-Korean summit, with most expressing a positive attitude toward it.

Many hope the talks between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will serve as momentum in denuclearizing the reclusive country, and achieving unification in the future.

“I am happy to hear we are hosting the inter-Korean summit. I am looking forward to it,” Kim Hyang-chul, 59, said in an interview. “I know unification will not happen in the near future, but the two Koreas can achieve it slowly. We are all the same Koreans in the end, and we should unify.”

Kim Tae-hyung, a 25-year-old university student, also agreed holding the inter-Korean summit was a good step toward bringing peace to the peninsula. “The two Koreas rarely exchanged anything in recent years. Holding the inter-Korean summit is a positive sign in initiating possible trade between the two countries in the future,” the student said.

“I am not sure if North Korea is really willing to give up its nuclear weapons though. For now, we have no choice but to trust them and watch how things go.”

A 50-year-old housewife named Yong Hyun-joo living in Seoul said she expects much from the summit. “I think President Moon has been doing well to induce the inter-Korean summit to be held here. The stern economic sanctions against North Korea played a big part and I think North Korea also wants to be recognized as a normal nation internationally now,” she said.

However, Yong also expressed her uncertainty over North Korea's words on denuclearization. “We can't trust them fully. They have always been changing words at crucial moments. Also, it is hard for two very different systems to get combined overnight. We have to get unified one day though.”

Teenagers also greeted the summit, but they did not want unification.

“Students aren't interested in politics or international affairs. I know about the upcoming inter-Korean summit, and I hope it goes well. I am happy for the cultural exchange between the two Koreas that recently took South Korean musicians to Pyongyang. It's all great,” Song Jin-hyuk, 18, said.

“However, I personally do not want the two Koreas to get unified. We have different systems. I hope we just make exchanges and respect each other as different countries.”

The inter-Korean summit is set to take place in South Korea at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Friday. The two Koreas have held summits twice previously in Pyongyang.

North Korea's former leader Kim Jong-il met with his past counterparts Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun in 2000 and 2007, respectively.

This is the first time the North Korean leader will be crossing the border to visit South Korea for talks.