[News analysis] Moon and Kim reaffirm commitment to Panmunjeom Declaration

North Korea’s official broadcasting service, Korea Central Television (KCTV) released video footage on May 27 of the May 26 inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. President Moon is seen posing for a commemorative photograph alongside Kim Jong-un and top aides from both North and South Korea. From the left are pictured South Korean presidential secretary Song In-bae, government situation room director Yoon Geon-young, National Intelligence Service (NIS) second deputy director Kim Sang-gyun, presidential security service director Ju Young-hoon, and NIS director Suh Hoon, President Moon Jae-in, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Workers’ Party of Korea (KWP) Central Committee vice chairman and head of inter-Korean negotiations Kim Yong-chol, and KWP deputy director Kim Yo-jong. (provided by Blue House)

Two leaders agree to hold high-level talks followed by general-level military and Red Cross talks

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed their commitment to “swiftly implementing” the terms of their previous Panmunjeom Declaration from Apr. 27 during a May 26 summit at the Unification House (Tongilgak) on the North Korean side of Panmunjeom. The two leaders agreed to hold high-level talks on June 1, followed by general-level military talks and Red Cross talks.

The decision is expected to inject new momentum into inter-Korean relations, which had been subdued since the North’s announcement canceling scheduled high-level talks on May 16. Pyongyang in particular hinted that the recent summit may have set a “baseline” for overcoming the recent dispute between the two sides, stating that the two leaders had “agreed to work together with mutual trust and consideration so that the Panmunjeom Declaration is swiftly implemented.”

According to results announced by President Moon at the Blue House Spring and Autumn Pavilion (Chunchugwan) press center on the morning of May 27, the two leaders “reaffirmed the swift implementation” of the Panmunjeom Declaration and “agreed to hold” a series of meetings starting with high-level talks on June 1 and including discussions by military authorities to relieve military tensions and Red Cross talks for reunions among divided family members.

The North Korean side confirmed the agreement to hold talks on June 1 and other terms in reports the same day by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and Rodong Sinmun. In particular, it emphasized the “swift pursuit of talks in different areas,” hinting that the resumption of dialogue is set to gather momentum.

The Panmunjeom Declaration issued on Apr. 27 already includes terms on the swift staging of high-level talks (Item 2-1), Red Cross Talks (1-5), and general-level military talks within the month of May (2-3). But inter-Korean relations had remained in a deadlock before the second summit after high-level talks scheduled for May 16 to discuss implementation of the agreement’s terms were unilaterally canceled by the North.

This explains the emphasis on “swiftness” by the two leaders in their May 26 agreement to implement the declaration’s terms and hold follow-up talks.

“There was a difficult situation while South Korea-US military exercises were going on, but it looks like they’ve gone back to before and agreed to implement the [inter-Korean] agreement as scheduled,” said Dongguk University professor Koh Yu-hwan.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un bids his farewell to South Korean President Moon Jae-in after the two leaders’ summit at Unification House (Tongilgak) on the North Korean side of Panmunejom on May 26. (provided by Blue House)

“This means they are normalizing inter-Korean relations,” Koh concluded.

In connection with this, the KCNA reported that the two leaders had traded views on “the matters the north and the south are now faced with.” In his concluding remarks on the May 26 summit, President Moon noted that there had been “some difficulties in South and North Korean dialogue since the Apr. 27 meeting.” The remarks appeared to concern both the “issues” responsible for the recent deadlock in inter-Korean relations and the principles informing his approach to inter-Korean ties.

“North Korea tried to use a suspension of inter-Korean relations as a way of pressuring the US, and it very nearly lost the North Korea-US summit as a result,” a South Korean government source said.

Restoring momentum to North Korea-US summit

The same source explained that the two leaders had agreed at the summit to “return to the Panmunjeom Declaration in the sense of restoring momentum for the North Korea-US talks.”

Issues recently raised with South Korea by the North include the joint Max Thunder exercises by the South Korean and US Air Forces, former North Korean minister to the North Korean embassy in the UK Thae Yong-ho’s recent “anti-Kim Jong-un” and “anti-Pyongyang” remarks, the repatriation of employees who defected en mass from the Ryugyong Restaurant in China, and the distribution of leaflets in North Korea by defector groups.

The Max Thunder drills ended on May 25, while Thae resigned his position as an advisory committee member with a National Intelligence Service-affiliated research institute. Many observers still predict the North’s public demands for the repatriation of the Ryugyong employees (made by a representative of the North Korean Red Cross) could prove an obstacle to holding a divided family remember reunion event for the National Liberation Day holiday on Aug. 15. But experts said the two leaders’ renewed agreement to hold Red Cross talks means a greater likelihood the reunion event will take place as scheduled.

At their high-level talks on June 1, the South and North Korean sides are expected to discuss issues related to the timeline and direction for implementing the Panmunjeom Declaration, including coordination of the schedule for general-level and Red Cross talks and other meetings in different areas.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [[e-mail]]