Moon, Kim visit 'sacred' Mount Paektu
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President Moon Jae-in, second from right, and his wife Kim Jung-sook, right, stand with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, second from left, and his wife Ri Sol-ju on Mount Paektu in North Korea, Thursday. Joint Press Corps
By Kim Yoo-chul
By Kim Yoo-chul, Joint Press Corps
SEOUL/PYONGYANG ― Dreams can come true. President Moon Jae-in cleared a top item off his “bucket list,” Thursday, as he ascended Mount Paektu with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
According to pool reports from Korean journalists covering the third inter-Korean summit this year, President Moon reached Chonji, the mountain's well-known crater lake, with Kim around 10:20 a.m. via cable car.
The two were accompanied by first lady Kim Jung-sook, the North Korean leader's wife Ri Sol-ju and high-profile delegates from both sides.
“Where is the border?” was the first comment by Moon after reaching the peak of the mountain. “There are four seasons on Mount Paektu,” Kim responded.
Moon held several photo ops with the first lady, and took a deep breath when he reached the peak, where he stayed for 30 minutes, the pool reports said.
The joint excursion came after Kim suggested to Moon that they visit the “symbolic mountain” on the Chinese border. Climbing the mountain was an “unfulfilled dream” for Moon, who is well known for his passion for mountain trekking _ he has visited the Himalayas twice.
The mountain has a sacred role in Korean folklore and has been used to lend gravitas to the North Korean regime's propaganda across generations. As the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsula at about 2,750 meters above sea level, it has long been considered as the mythical place of origin for Koreans.
As the mountain is also a “spiritual spot” for the North Korean “revolution,” the excursion was seen by many as sincere treatment of President Moon and a reaffirmation of the commitment to denuclearization, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials.
Moon, whose parents fled from North Korea during the Korean War, earlier said it was their dream to reunite with family members separated by the war. In a book he wrote, Moon said the first thing he wanted to do was to take his mother to her hometown when reunification was realized.
The President refused requests from Koreans living in China to visit the mountain from the Chinese side as he wanted to go there from the North Korean side.
“My dream has come true. When we met in April for the first summit, I told you that there's one thing that I have wanted to do for a long time ― trekking the mountain and the Kaema Plateau. I swore many times that I would go Mount Paektu from the North's side. It seemed the timing has been realized earlier than expected. Now it has happened,” Moon said to Kim, according to the pool reports.
“A first step has been taken. More steps mean an increased possibility for more visits by more people. I believe ordinary people in South Korea will be able to travel to Mount Paektu. That will happen soon.”
“Only a few people have come to the mountain. I hope more South Koreans and Koreans living oversees come here because Mount Paektu has become a mountain that South Koreans have wanted to touch from the South side since the end of the Korean War,” Kim responded.
On the final day of the summit, Moon left Paekhwawon State Guesthouse at 6:39 a.m. for Sunan International Airport and flew to Samjiyon Airport, arriving at 7:29 a.m., before ascending Mount Paektu.
The President arrived at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Thursday evening.
The leaders of the two Koreas agreed on steps aimed at advancing North Korea's denuclearization. Pyongyang announced it will “permanently dismantle” its Yongbyon nuclear test sites and will stop all provocative actions toward the South.
Meanwhile, during a “briefing to the people” and press conference held at the press center in Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) immediately after returning to Seoul, President Moon said the two Koreas aim to declare an end to the Korean War by the end of the year and he will discuss this with U.S. President Donald Trump in his upcoming summit with him.
Emphasizing the North’s determination to denuclearize, Moon said, “The terms ‘dismantlement of the missile engine test site under the observation of experts’ and ‘permanent dismantlement’ used in the Pyongyang Declaration have the same meaning as ‘verifiable and irreversible disarmament.’”
Moon said Kim hoped U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would visit the North soon and that the second North Korea-U.S. summit would be held as soon as possible for faster progress in the denuclearization process.