North and South Korea took the first tentative steps towards peace on Friday during a summit with global implications, CNN reports.
The day began when Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to cross into South Korean territory since fighting in the Korean War ended in 1953.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in embrace after signing the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula during the Inter-Korean Summit
It culminated with the two countries vowing to formally end the war and agreeing to work towards the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”.
Kim and Moon Jae-in had never met before they shook hands and posed for pictures on both sides of demarcation line separating the two Koreas on Friday morning.
After a morning of meetings with officials, Kim and Moon took part in a symbolic tree-planting ceremony in the DMZ. The tree is from 1953, the year the Korean War armistice was signed. Kim used soil from a mountain on the southern island of Jeju while Moon used earth from Mount Paektu in the north.
This is the moment Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un signed an agreement pledging to end the Korean War https://t.co/gCVhmxszrO pic.twitter.com/jfHF0rfKuX
— CNN International (@cnni) April 27, 2018
Then, the two leaders left their officials behind and walked alone through the DMZ to a footbridge that was recently repainted the same blue used on the Korean Unification Flag. Unexpectedly, they talked for 30 minutes alone.
The stunning moment of the summit when the pair signed an agreement on a range of measures aimed at reducing tensions and perhaps one day reuniting the Korean Peninsula.
They also agreed that Moon will travel to Pyongyang later this year.
Plus, the two countries will establish a “joint liaison office,” organize reunions of families separated by the six-decade-old conflict, and will arrange another high-level meeting to be held in mid-June.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/989816772713906177
US President Donald Trump has been tweeting in excitement. However, he’s cautiously positive about the day’s progress. In a second tweet, Trump wrote: “KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!”
This is great news for the whole world, and for the people of North Korea.
That said, I continue to wonder whether all the bickering last year was no more than a political show.
It was a show indeed, especially for Kim, who sought to leverage his nuclear arsenal for improved economic assistance. Politics is a strategic game, not just a “dirty” one.
Some of my friends continue to insist Kim is mad. I personally think he’s one of the most brutal and crafty politicians about.
I doubt if this treaty will work. DPRK hasn’t been true to their words – both threats and promises. The poverty-infested country brags about its destructive powers but I take it all to be Kim’s making. Not everything he does or says should be attributed to the entire citizens except that he represents the government and therefore is seen as the mouthpiece. I suspect some hidden plans in his declaration for peace. The world should tread with caution. That man can’t be trusted.
Very nice for the entire world. Wars means no good to anyone.
This better be true because Kim Jong Un has made himself a devil that can’t wait to send innocent souls down early graves.
What? I look forward to this really happening. It’d be harmony between a cat and a dog.
All we need is PEACE. Nothing is better at such difficult times when terrorism holds us in fear. The thought that someday, DPRK could lose the weapons to terrorists make me shiver. It is better destroyed before that happens.
Nice 🙂
I hate this talk about North Korea’s Kim, who should have been eliminated a long time. It’s my guess that the US fear China and Russia’s interest in the country. Otherwise he should have been a goner by now. I hate politics for this man’s sake.
I don;t think this North Korea-US summit will ever hold. I’m just skeptical about that fat man called Kim Jong Un. He has a dubious, evil and malevolent mind.
If Kim hasn’t been able to get some understanding with Trump, I see no peace between the Koreas. These steps between the north and south are however good for the citizens who have suffered terrible experiences since the war started and “ended”. Kim Jong Un shouldn’t be at the helm of DPRK politics.
That’s good news. Hope it happens for good.
This will be real good when it happens. If it eventually happens.
F North Korea and Kim Jong Un. The world doesn’t need them; they need the world, and no one should fear their little nuclear arsenal.
Very nice. The world is tired of expecting. Let it end now for posterity’s sake.