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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un jointly announce the Panmunjom Declaration on Apr. 27 after their first inter-Korean summit. (Kim Gyoung-ho

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will be flying his presidential jet on the direct route over the Yellow Sea to Pyongyang for the inter-Korean summit that will be held there from Sept. 18 to 20. Moon’s first meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang and the main events of the summit will be broadcast live to the world.

These were some of the points related to the principles of protocol, security, press coverage and communication to which South and North Korea agreed during high-level technical talks held at Panmunjom on Sept. 14 in preparation for the summit, explained Kwon Hyuk-ki, director of the Blue House press center (Spring and Autumn Pavilion). No explanation was given for why Moon will be flying directly above the Yellow Sea as former president Kim Dae-jung did in 2000 rather than taking the overland route as former president Roh Moo-hyun did in 2007, but this presumably has something to do with the poor condition of the roads to Pyongyang.

During Moon and Kim’s first summit in Panmunjom on Apr. 27, Kim told Moon, “Honestly, the reason I’m worried about the idea of you coming [to Pyongyang] is that you’d probably be inconvenienced by our deficient transportation network.”

“We agreed to a live broadcast of the two leaders’ first meeting in Pyongyang and the main events on the summit itinerary, and North Korea promised to provide South Korean reporters with what they need for the live broadcast,” Kwon said in a briefing following the inter-Korean technical talks.

An advance team in charge of protocol, press coverage and security will depart for North Korea on the overland route on Sept. 16. The delegation that will be accompanying Moon on his trip to the North is expected to increase from the original number of 200 with the addition of a technical team. This agreement was signed by Kim Sang-gyun, deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, representing the South Korean negotiators, and Kim Chang-son, a senior official on the State Affairs Commission, representing the North Korean negotiators.

The technical meeting lasted from 9 am until 2 pm on Friday without a break. In addition to Kim Sang-gyun and Kwon Hyuk-ki, the South Korean negotiators included Yun Kun-young, head of the governance and strategy situation room, and Choi Byeong-il, head of the Blue House security service.

The North Korean negotiators under Kim Chang-son were Kim Chol-gyu, deputy commander of the security command; Ri Hyon, an official at the United Front Department; and Kim Byong-sop, an official in the publicity department of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

“The specific itinerary of the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang and the list of the people going to the North will be announced by Im Jong-seok as early as Sept. 16, but no later than when the press center that’s been set up at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul opens on Sept. 17,” said a senior official at the Blue House. Im Jong-seok is Moon’s chief of staff as well as the chair of the inter-Korean summit preparatory committee.

The first meeting between Moon and Kim inside North Korea, which will be broadcast live to the world, is likely to take place at Pyongyang International Airport. While the Blue House didn’t disclose the major events on the summit itinerary during the briefing after the technical talk, there’s likely to be a welcome ceremony and dinner banquet on Sept. 18 followed by a one-on-one summit and an expanded summit on Sept. 19, given the precedent of the North Korean trips by Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.

Quite a few of the media staff at the inter-Korean summit will be responsible for providing live coverage of the major events, including the initial meeting of the two leaders and their summit. There will also be a total of 15 reporters assigned to cover the event, representing newspapers, broadcasters, wire services and internet media. The Blue House press pool has agreed to set up a joint team of reporters for the Pyongyang trip and selected the reporters who will attend the summit by lot on Friday afternoon.

By Kim Bo-hyeop, staff reporter

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