Kim Jong-un’s historic walk south: North Korean dictator becomes the first to cross into the South for 65 YEARS and warmly shakes hands with his sworn enemy President Moon Jae-in at unprecedented peace summit
- North Korean dictator greeted by President Moon after crossing military demarcation line on 38th parallel
- Leaders will hold talks at Panmunjom, the truce village where the Korean War armistice was signed in 1953
- Kim entered South Korea to meet President Moon at 9.30am local time (8.30pm EST and 12.30am GMT)
- After talks, Kim and Moon will have lunch separately before holding tree-planting ceremony in the afternoon
- Further talks will finish at dinner, with dishes painstakingly selected to emphasize unity between two Koreas
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Kim Jong-un has become the first North Korean leader to step into the South for 65 years as he met with President Moon Jae-in for a historic peace summit on Friday.
The dictator crossed the 38th parallel and warmly shook hands with his sworn enemy before both men walked side-by-side to a welcome ceremony attended by flamboyantly-dressed South Korean soldiers.
Moving on to the truce village of Panmunjom, Kim signed the guest book at the Peace House, which will be the venue for talks that will focus on whether the North can be persuaded to give up its nuclear bombs.
The North Korean dictator was greeted by Moon at 9.30am local time (8.30pm EST/12.30am GMT) after crossing a military demarcation line into the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone
Kim smiled at the camera before walking alongside Moon into Panmunjom, which lies just south of the border and was where both sides held talks to yield an armistice after the Korean War in 1953
The dictator, wearing his trademark black Mao suit, and President Moon, in a navy jacket, appear to hold hands as they walk side-by-side towards the Peace House where official talks will take place
Kim, donning his trademark Mao suit, arrived by car before entering South Korea to meet President Moon 9.30am local time (8.30pm EST/12.30am GMT). Talks are expected to start an hour later.
Every detail of the arrangements has been painstakingly thought through, starting with the distance both leaders will sit apart from each other – 2,018 millimeters, in a nod to the current year.
The footbridge that Moon and Kim will walk across has been painted blue, the color of the Korea Reunification Flag and the UN, which runs some of the buildings in Panmunjom alongside the governments of the North and South.
After the end of the first session, Kim Jong Un and Moon will have lunch separately before holding a tree-planting ceremony in the afternoon.
A pine tree will be planted on the demarcation line using soil from Mount Halla in South Korea and Mount Paektu in the North.
North Korean folklore considers Mount Paektu as the place where the nation’s founder, Kim Il-sung, fought the Japanese after World War Two and his son, Kim Jong-il – the current dictator’s father – was born.
After the tree planting, Moon and Kim will take a walk together in Panmunjom. The village was where North and South signed an armistice, but not a peace agreement, to call a halt to the Korean War in 1953.
There will then be a next round of talks taking place at a 14-seat table supported by legs which are shaped like two bridges merging.
The seat-backs will be decorated with a map of the Korean Peninsula, while the blue-carpeted room will include an image of Geumgangsan Mountain in the North painted by an artist from the South.
Kim and Moon walk together alongside a South Korean welcome guard at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone
Moon salutes a flamboyant-dressed South Korean welcome guard lined up to welcome the North Korean dictator for Friday’s unprecedented summit
A South Korean honor guard wearing uniforms of blue, red and white holds flags aloft as Kim and Moon walk along a red carpet in the truce village of Panmunjom
Moving onto the truce village of Panmunjom, Kim signed the guest book at the Peace House, which will be the venue for talks that will focus on whether the North can be persuaded to give up its nuclear bombs
Kim and Moon pose with children wearing badges showing the Korean Peninsula prior to peace talks inside the truce village Panmunjom
Moon helps Kim step over a low concrete barrier before both men pose for photos against the backdrop of dozens of journalists and guards
This map shows the layout of the Panmunjom, which is just across the border in the south and is centered around the Peace House, where talks will be held
At the end of the talks, Kim and Moon will sign a pact and make an announcement. Later, they will have dinner on the South’s side and watch a video clip themed ‘Spring of One’.
The dinner menu consists of items from the North and South, including a cold noodle dish called naengmyeon, which will be specially prepared by a chef from Okryugwan, one of Pyongyang’s finest restaurants.
The item is said to have been suggested by Moon, and requires a noodle-making machine to be carried over with the North’s delegations so it can be prepared fresh.
In addition, Kim will be bringing his own toilet to avoid having to use a public one.
The leaders will also dine on John Dory, the favored fish in Moon’s childhood province of Busan, and a Korean take on rosti, the Swiss dish Kim ate while attending school in Switzerland.
The dessert, a mango mousse decorated with a map of the Korean Peninsula, resulted in an official complaint from Japan for showing islands it claims sovereignty over.
A crowd of South Koreans waving Korean Unification flags watch progress at the Inter Korean Summit on a screen in the city of Paju on Friday
A convoy transporting South Korean President Moon Jae-in leaves the Presidential Blue House for the inter-Korean summit in Seoul, South Korea, in preparation for Friday’s summit
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (centre) is greeted by his supporters outside the presidential Blue House in Seoul as he leaves for Panmunjom on Friday
Part of the South Korean convoy arrives at the Demilitarized Zone, a stretch of neutral ground lying between the border of North and South
Less controversial items on offer include citrus tea and beef from a ranch in South Korea, which became famous in 1998 the founder of Hyundai filled 50 trucks with 500 cattle from the ranch for a peace convoy to the Norht.
The ranch became famous in 1998 when late Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung filled 50 trucks with 500 cattle and led them across the border to the North in an effort to aid reconciliation between the rivals.
‘This summit will focus more on denuclearization and securing of permanent peace than anything else,’ Moon’s office said on Thursday.
‘I feel North Korea is sending their key military officials to the summit as they too, believe denuclearization and peace are important.’
Kim will be accompanied by nine officials, among them his sister, Kim Yo Jong, who led the North’s delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February and Kim Yong Nam, the North’s nominal head of state.
In addition, there will be Kim Yong Chol, a former intelligence chief and Choe Hwi, the chairman of a sports panel.
The North sent athletes to the Winter Olympics, where the neighbours also fielded a joint women’s ice hockey team.
Kim Yong Chol was previously chief of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean military intelligence agency South Korea has blamed for the deadly 2010 sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean navy corvette.
A summit will then take place at Peace House (pictured) in Panmunjom, the border village where the summit is to be held
The talks will take place at a 14-seat table supported by legs which are shaped like two bridges merging. The seat-backs will be decorated with a map of the Korean Peninsula, while the blue-carpeted room will include an of Geumgangsan Mountain in the North painted by an artist from the South
Also in the delegation are Ri Su Yong, a member of the North’s politburo and Ri Myong Su, the chief of the general staff of the Korean People’s Army.
Ministers on the trip include defence minister Pak Yong Sik, and foreign minister Ri Yong Ho, besides an official spearheading peaceful reunification efforts, Ri Son Gwon.
South Korea’s delegation is comprised of seven officials, including the ministers for defence, foreign affairs and unification.
The summit is only the third time the leaders of the divided Koreas have met in the 65 years since the end of the Korean War.
The previous meetings were held during a period of rapprochement and were followed by a decade of tense and cold relations.
A tentative thaw began earlier this year with North Korean participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea’s Pyeongchang.
What happened in the other two North-South summits since 1953?
Friday’s summit between South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is only the third time the leaders of the divided Koreas have met in the 65 years since the end of the Korean War.
The previous meetings were held during a period of rapprochement and were followed by a decade of tense and cold relations.
A tentative thaw began earlier this year with North Korean participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea’s Pyeongchang.
– 2000
The first inter-Korean summit took place between former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the late father of Kim Jong Un, and the liberal former president of South Korea, Kim Dae-jung.
First: A man looks the photos showing the summit between South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 2000
The three-day meeting in June, which began with a broadly smiling Kim Jong Il tightly grabbing the hands of Kim Dae-jung at the Pyongyang airport, led to an agreement between the Koreas on joint economic projects, which have since stalled.
The countries also agreed to resume reunions of families divided between North and South.
Kim Dae-jung won the Nobel Peace Prize later in 2000 for his rapprochement policies with the North.
– 2007
The Koreas held their second summit in October 2007 between Kim Jong Il and Roh Moo-hyun, Kim Dae-jung’s liberal successor and the political mentor of current South Korean President Moon.
Second: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (right) and South Korea’s President Roh Moo-hyun toast during a farewell luncheon after meeting in Pyongyang on October 4, 2007
Mr Roh went to Pyongyang after crossing the demilitarised zone in a symbolic moment that grabbed international headlines.
Mr Kim and Mr Roh agreed to pursue a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War and reached a set of cooperation projects.
But most of the accords were shelved after Mr Roh’s single five-year term ended months later and he was replaced by a conservative who took a harder line over the North’s nuclear ambitions.
What’s on the menu for the Korean summit?
The menu for the Panmunjom has been painstakingly planned to combine dishes from the North and South to symbolize the ties between both countries.
Yet despite all the thought that has gone into it, one dish on offer has already provoked a row, as you will read below:
A TOUCH OF SWISS
While not many things are known about Kim’s childhood, one thing Seoul is certain about is that he spent several years in his teens being schooled in Switzerland. That means a lot of Swiss-inspired dishes for Kim at the banquet.
Aside from the Korean twist on rosti, which basically will be fried grated potato from South Korea’s Gangwon province topped with cheese, the South Koreans will serve Swiss chocolate, macaroons and cheesecake in a set of desserts that Seoul’s presidential Blue House has named ‘Memories of Swiss.’
This undated photo provided by South Korea Presidential Blue House on Tuesday shows what the office describes as a Korean ‘re-interpretation’ of the Swiss potato dish rosti, as a nod to Kim’s schooldays in Switzerland
SOUTH KOREAN MEAT AND FISH
South Korean chefs at the banquet will also serve baked John Dory fish, a tribute to the South Korean port of Busan, where the 65-year-old Moon was born.
Seoul’s presidential Blue House said North Korea has also agreed to bring to the dinner ‘naengmyeon,’ or cold buckwheat noodles, made by the head chef of Pyongyang’s famous Okryugwan restaurant.
They also will serve grilled beef made from cattle at a ranch in the central town of Seosan.
The ranch became famous in 1998 when late Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung sent 1,001 cattle from the ranch in two separate convoy across the border to the North in an effort to aid reconciliation between the rivals.
Beef from a ranch that became famous in 1998 when late Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung filled 50 trucks with 500 cattle and led them across the border to the North in an effort to aid reconciliation between the rivals
… JUST DESSERTS?
Dessert will be a mango mousse decorated with a blue map symbolizing a unified Korean Peninsula.
The mousse, subtitled ‘Spring of the People’ in a publicity photo, features islands known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea, which lie about halfway between the East Asian neighbours in the Sea of Japan, which Seoul calls the East Sea.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said: ‘It is extremely regrettable. We have asked that the dessert not be served.’
She added that Japan had lodged a protest over the mousse.
The mousse, subtitled ‘Spring of the People’ in a publicity photo, features islands known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea, which lie about halfway between the East Asian neighbours in the Sea of Japan, which Seoul calls the East Sea
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