WEB DESK
The leaders of North and South Korea agreed today to pursue a permanent peace and the complete denuclearisation of the divided peninsula, as they embraced after a historic summit laden with symbolism.
In separate speeches, Kim and Moon promised a new era. Addressing the world’s media live on television for the first time, Kim said the Koreas “will be reunited as one country.”
In a day of bonhomie including a highly symbolic handshake over the Military Demarcation Line that divides the two countries, the two leaders issued a declaration on the common goal of realising a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
The two leaders also agreed to end hostile activities between the two nations, change the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that divides the country into a “peace zone” by ceasing propaganda broadcasts.
The two sides also agreed on arms reduction in the region pending the easing of military tension, to push for three-way talks involving the US and China, organising a reunion of families left divided by the war, and connecting and modernising railways and roads across the border.
They also agreed to joint participation in sporting events, including this year’s Asian Games and to hold regular meetings and direct telephone conversations.
But behind all the ceremony, at the Panmunjom “peace village” in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea, there were few concrete details. The Panmunjom Declaration largely steered clear of specifics regarding Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities, and did not set out what North Korea would expect to get in exchange for denuclearization.
