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South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (center) crosses the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) into North Korea to attend the high-level inter-Korean talks at Unification House (Tongilgak) in Panmunjeom on Aug. 13 (photo pool)

South and North Korea agreed on Aug. 13 to hold a third summit in Pyongyang between President Moon Jae-in and leader Kim Jong-un “within September.” The agreement came at a fourth round of high-level talks at the Unification House (Tongilgak) in Panmunjeom.

A key administration official said the chances of the summit being held in mid-September were “realistically high.” More specifically, the date is expected come sometime in the eight days between the North Korean holiday on Sept. 9 commemorating the 70th anniversary of the republic’s foundation and the convening of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 18. Blue House spokesperson Kim Eui-kyum said a date in early September was “somewhat unlikely.”

After their talks, the two sides announced a brief “joint press statement” around midday consisting of a total of three sentences, including an agreement to hold an “inter-Korean summit within September in Pyongyang.” They also said in the statement that they had “to examine the current situation regarding implementation of the Panmunjeom Declaration and to give serious consideration of aggressive measures to resolve any issues.” No additional agreements were specified in the statement beyond the one concerning the Pyongyang summit in September.

But when asked by a South Korean reporter whether the talks that day had “gone well,” North Korea’s chief delegate, Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland chairman Ri Son-gwon replied, “They went well.” In remarks at a closing meeting, Ri said, “I am certain that issues toward the improvement and advancement of inter-Korean relations will progress in a more innovative way after today’s talks.”

His remarks suggested the meeting was not a failure. They were also read as signaling that the broader framework of improvements in inter-Korean relations and the Korean Peninsula peace progress formed by the Apr. 27 inter-Korean summit in Panmunjeom and June 12 North Korea-US summit in Singapore are poised to continue.

After the talks, South Korea’s chief delegate, Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon, gave a relatively detailed explanation to reporters from both sides on the discussions concerning implementation of the terms of the Panmunjeom Declaration from the Apr. 27 summit.

On the matter of an inter-Korean joint liaison office in Kaesong – which Seoul had repeatedly said would be opened “within August” – Cho said the two sides had “agreed to hold an opening ceremony shortly” once inter-Korean consultations and repair and renovation efforts are complete. The opening is expected to come somewhat later than Aug. 17, the date initially set by the South Korean government.

Cho also said the two sides had agreed to “work on making greater progress with inter-Korean cooperation” in areas including railway and road linkage and modernization and forestry. On the matters of a South Korean performance by North Korean artists and a joint event to commemorate the October 4 Summit Declaration in 2007, Cho said South and North had “discussed things through the exchanging of documents.” They further “agreed on continuing to hold additional” reunion events for divided family members, he said.

“We also agreed to continue cooperating on the swift conclusion and adoption of an agreement on matters discussed at military talks [including a mutual test withdrawal of guard posts in the Demilitarized Zone and disarmament of the Joint Security Area at Panmunjeom],” he added.

But none of the areas mentioned by Cho was specified in the joint press statement. Ri also made no specific mention of them, advising the press to “ask Minister Cho.”

A senior figure in the area of foreign affairs and national security said the talks’ outcome “shows the large differences in South and North Korea’s perceptions.” The difference was a reflection of the two sides’ approaches to forming their delegations to the talks, where the South’s “political” lineup including the Minister and Vice Minister of Unification and Blue House National Security Office second vice director was matched with a more “working-level” lineup from the North, with a focus on economic cooperation areas such as railways, roads, and forestry.

Indeed, Ri warned in his closing meeting risks that “unanticipated issues could arise and difficulties could lie in store for all of the issues on the schedule if the matters raised in North-South talks and individual meetings [since the Apr. 27 adoption of the Panmunjeom Declaration] are not resolved.”

Referring to “as yet unresolved issues between North and South and obstacles to the improvement of North-South relations,” Ri stressed that it was “very important for authorities on both sides to do their job properly.” The remarks were seen as voicing strong objections to South Korea’s “half-heartedness” in pursuing practical efforts related to railway, road, and forestry cooperation beyond joint research and investigation due to sanctions imposed on North Korea by the international community.

North Korea has issued critical remarks recently in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper and elsewhere, stating that inter-Korean relations “appear slick on the surface but are making no substantive progress” and accusing the South of “only wanting to do things that don’t cost money.” In short, the outcome of the Aug. 13 talks could be seen as connected to the North’s plea and pressure for the South to be more proactive about implementing the Panmunjeom Declaration’s terms on railway, road, and forestry cooperation – if only for the sake of the summit “in Pyongyang within September.”

At the same time, the two sides’ agreement at the talks to hold the Pyongyang summit within September is meaningful in terms of establishment an initial target date for each side to “do its job” in improving relations, along with a mechanism to prevent relations from regressing.

“The government needed to adopt a proactive and creative approach to turn things around so that the ‘summit in Pyongyang within September’ is able to really address measures for the joint prosperity of South and North [such as full-scale economic cooperation],” suggested a former senior official well versed in inter-Korean relations.

This includes calls for Seoul to play the role of guide and “pump primer” so that improvements can be achieved on the Korean Peninsula through a fourth North Korea visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, progress on the war-ending declaration and denuclearization issues, and an additional North Korea-China summit.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer, and Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter

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