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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
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Two sides reach an agreement in broad terms on “protocol, security, and press coverage”
The main events of a scheduled 2018 inter-Korean summit are to be broadcast live from the first meeting and handshake between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It will be the first time the major events of an inter-Korean summit are aired live in their entirety. The two sides held a second round of working-level talks on Apr. 18 on the areas of protocol, security, and press coverage at the Tongilgak building on the North Korean side of Panmunjeom Joint Security Area. “During the working-level talks, the two sides agreed on a live broadcast to share the main schedule and activities of the historic inter-Korean summit with the rest of the world from the first handshake between the two leaders,” said Blue House Spring and Autumn Pavilion (press center) chief Kwon Hyuk-ki in a briefing after attending the talks. The idea of broadcasting the inter-Korean summit live was accepted on Apr. 18 after first being raised by the South Korean side at the first round of working-level talks on Apr. 5. “The North readily accepted [the idea],” said one meeting attendee. The meeting between the South and North Korean leaders will be the third to be broadcast live. At the first inter-Korean summit on June 13, 2000, images of then-President Kim Dae-jung shaking hands with Kim Jong-il at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport were relayed live via satellite. The two sides had previously agreed at working-level talks to establish the first inter-Korean satellite network since Korea’s division for the broadcast. Images of then-President Roh Moo-hyun meeting Kim Jong-il in an official welcoming ceremony in front of Pyongyang’s April 25 House of Culture were also aired in real time on Oct. 2, 2007. Kwon explained that the two sides “reached agreements in broad terms on protocol, security, and press coverage.” “We plan to hold additional working-level talks, or discussions equivalent to working-level talks, to develop a more detailed plan,” he added, hinting that the two sides had more or less reached an agreement on matters such as the form and route of the leaders’ meeting, lunch and dinner scheduled, and the attendance of Kim Jong-un’s wife Ri Sol-ju. Another meeting attendee declined to comment specifically on the details of the schedule because of the “remaining coordination process,” but added, “I think that you can tell they reached a general agreement on the overall schedule from the mere fact that they agreed on a live broadcast.” High-level inter-Korean talks are expected to take place after additional working-level meetings. The working-level talks on Apr. 18 lasted for five hours and 15 minutes from 10 am to 3:15 pm, with no lunch break. As in the first talks, National Intelligence Service second vice director Kim Sang-gyun was the senior representative from the South Korean side, with Blue House government situation office director Yoon Geon-young, protocol secretary Cho Han-ki, Kwon Hyuk-ki, and Presidential Security Service director Shin Yong-wook also attending. For the North Korean side, Workers’ Party Propaganda and Agitation Department vice director and press coverage official Kim Kyong-ho attended in addition to senior delegate Kim Chang-son, Kim Pyong-ho, Kim Chol-gyu, Ma Won-chun, Sin Won-chol, Ri Hyon, and Ro Kyong-chol, who had attended the first round of talks. By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
