[Editorial] We hope Pyongyang summit dispels skepticism while propelling peace process

A promotional flag for the Pyongyang inter-Korean summit along a road that leads to the Blue House reads, “May the inter-Korean summit lead to another miracle!” on Sept. 15. (Yonhap News)

The curtain has risen on a historic week that will set a new milestone in the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula. On Sept. 16, Suh Ho, the Blue House secretary for unification policy, led an advance team across the Armistice line into North Korea to prepare for South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s trip to Pyongyang.

On Sunday afternoon, Blue House Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok announced the list of people who will be on the delegation, which includes figures from a range of fields. All that’s left now is for South Korean President Moon Jae-in to meet Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang and make some clear progress on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the improvement of inter-Korean relations. We hope that the two leaders will instantaneously dispel skeptical viewpoints at home and abroad while conveying their commitment to a bold and dramatic improvement of relations.

Under the lead of Suh Ho, the 90-member advance team will be meeting in Pyongyang with North Korean officials responsible for protocol and security and putting the finishing touches on Moon and Kim’s three-day summit. Moon will be the third South Korean president to visit Pyongyang, after Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. But this summit is of unusual political significance since it will be the third time that Moon and Kim Jong-un have met in six months.

Just as the two leaders shocked the world with their tête-à-tête on a pedestrian bridge during their summit at Panmunjom on Apr. 27, the itinerary of this summit is also likely to be full of symbolic events that will demonstrate the two leaders’ trust and their desire for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Since Kim Jong-un has expressed his strong hope for North Korea’s economic development on several occasions, we hope that he will treat Moon’s visit to Pyongyang as an opportunity for sincerely communicating that to the entire world.

In the same context, it’s promising that the special delegation that will be accompanying Moon consists of figures from a wide range of sectors. The members of the delegation cover the business-political spectrum, including party leaders such as Lee Hae-chan, Chung Dong-young and Lee Jeong-mi; chaebol heads such as SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong; and leaders of civic groups such as Kim Ju-yeong and Kim Myeong-hwan, the chairs of the country’s two umbrella labor unions.

South and North Korea’s reconciliation and unification are not a matter for any single group or faction but rather historic tasks that are the collective responsibility of the entire Korean people. The ideal outcome would be for the figures who are visiting Pyongyang for the summit to meet with their North Korean counterparts to engage in dialogue and prime the pump for exchange and cooperation in each sector.

Questions can be raised about the inclusion of Lee Jae-yong on the delegation to the North, considering that he is on trial for the influence-peddling scandal involving Choi Soon-sil, the confidante of former president Park Geun-hye. While Im Jong-seok argued that inter-Korean economic cooperation takes preference with his remark that “the trial is the trial, and work is work,” it’s dubious whether a key figure in an unprecedented case of collusion between government and big business really needed to be included in this historic event.

“During the inter-Korean summit, the two leaders have agreed to discuss the pursuit of the establishment of lasting peace and mutual prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and more specifically practical measures for achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” said Chung Eui-yong, director of the Blue House National Security Office, following a recent meeting with Kim Jong-un.

It’s no exaggeration to say that this summit will determine whether the Korean Peninsula – which barely escaped the crisis of war – can make smooth progress toward peace. We hope that the final preparations will be concluded so that the Pyongyang summit can convey the message of peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula that the whole world desires.

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