Moon gets warm, enthusiastic welcome

North Korean citizens welcome President Moon Jae-in on the streets of Pyongyang. / Joint Press Corps

By Kim Bo-eun, Joint Press Corps

SEOUL/PYONGYANG _ President Moon Jae-in was given an enthusiastic welcome at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport upon his arrival Tuesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and first lady Ri Sol-ju greeted Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook at the airport at around 10 a.m. Moon and Kim embraced and shook hands.

Also present at the airport to greet Moon were top officials, including Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea; Workers' Party senior official Ri Su-yong; Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho and Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

With a military band playing in the background, hundreds of North Koreans at the airport cheered and waved flowers, the North Korean flag and the flag of a unified Korean Peninsula. The white flag with a blue Korean Peninsula symbolizing a unified Korea, was used for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February as well as the Asian Games in Indonesia in August.

The North Koreans held banners that read “We welcome President Moon Jae-in's visit to Pyongyang” and “Let's begin an era of peace and prosperity with the people's united strength.”

Two North Korean children gave bouquets to the President and first lady, and the first couple inspected a North Korean Honor Guard.

“Mr. President, the Korean People's Army are holding a march-past to greet your Excellency,” said the honor guard's commander.

Moon waved to North Koreans, and shook hands with them before he left the airport for the Paekhwawon Guest House.

Around an hour before Moon's arrival, crowds awaited him at the airport, and rehearsals took place. The North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo-jong, vice director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, was seen making final arrangements at the site.

North Korea held a car parade for Moon from the airport to Paekhwawon.

North Korean citizens cheered as Moon and Kim traveled the streets of Pyongyang. Clad in traditional Korean clothes, they waved flags and chanted “welcome” and “unification.”

The road from the airport to Paekhwawon was under strict military control.

Moon is the third sitting South Korean president to visit the North. The first was Kim Dae-jung who visited in 2000, and the second was Roh Moo-hyun in 2007.

This is Moon's third meeting with the North Korean leader. The first two took place at the truce village of Panmunjeom. At the time, Moon greeted the North Korean leader at the military demarcation line (MDL).

President Kim Dae-jung was also met at Pyongyang airport by then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un's father.

Moon will stay in Pyongyang through Thursday, at the Paekhwawon Guest House for VIP foreign visitors. Presidents Kim and Roh also stayed at the same place.